1.  \4-^"33 


LIBRARY    OF    THE    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,     N.    J. 
PRESENTED  BY 

PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


Division 


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^y^a. 


V. 


The  CHRISTIAN'S  Heritage. 


tljer  Sermaiis. 


BY    THE    LATE 


MELANCTHON  W.  JACOBUS,  D.D.,  LL.U. 


TOGETHER    WITH 


AN  UNFINISHED  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


EDITED    BY    HIS    SON-IN-LAW, 

Rev.    Matthew   Newkirk. 


NEW    YORK  : 

ROBERT   CARTER  AND   BROTHERS, 

530  Broadway. 

1878. 


Copyright 
By  Robert  Carter  and  Brothers. 
1877.     • 


Cambridge: 

PRESS    CfF 
JOHN    WILSON    AND    SON. 


ST.  JOHNLAND 

STEREOTYPE  FOUNDRY, 

SUFFOLK  CO.,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE. 


Many  former  parishioners  and  admiring 
hearers  of  Dr.  Jacobus  have  requested  for 
puhlication  those  sermons  which  they  have 
heard  with  profit.  And  these  have  been 
gathered  and  are  now  presented,  without 
alteration  or  revision,  just  as  they  were 
written  and  left.  There  has  been  no  such 
selection  as  would  display  mere  exegetical 
skill  or  literary  power.  Those  wdio  have 
demanded  the  volume  have  made  the  choice 
of  the  contents.  And  these  favorite  dis- 
courses are  issued  with  the  prayer  that 
he,  being  dead,  ma}^  yet  speak  to  many 
hearts  w^ith  words  of  comfort,  joy,  and 
conviction. 

Among    his    papers    has    been    found    an 


IV  PREFACE. 

autobiography,  commenced  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore his  death,  and  embracmg  only  the 
incidents  of  his  earlier  life.  Although  in- 
complete and  unrevised,  it  is  given  with 
the  sermons  to  show  the  deep  religious 
experiences  and  complete  theological  prep- 
arations which  so  remarkably  fitted  him 
for  his  pastoral  and  professional  work.  A 
filial  hand  has  imperfectly  but  briefly  at- 
tempted  to   complete    the   life-sketch. 

M.  N. 


CONTENTS 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

I. 

THE    CHRISTIAN'S    HERITAGE 


"  For  all  things  are  yours  ;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or 
Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  Life,  or  Death,  or  things  present, 
or  things  to  come  ;  all  are  yours  ;  and  ye  are  Christ's  ;  and 
Christ  is  God's." — I  Cor.  iii.  21-23. 

II. 

LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE 18 

"  For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it;  but  who- 
soever shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  the 
same  shall  save  it." — M.\rk  viii.  35. 

in. 

LIMITATIONS    OF    THE    DIVINE   WORKING 38 

"And  he  could  there  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that  he 
laid  his  hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk,  and  healed  them." — 
Mark  vi.  5. 

IV. 
CHRIST    THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY 57 

"  Who  went  about  doing  good." — Acts  x.  38. 

V. 

THE    LAW    OF    THE    DIVINE    MANIFESTATION 73 

"Judas  saith  unto  him,  not  Iscariot,  Lord  how  is  it  that 
thou  wilt  manifest  thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto  the  world  ? 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him.  If  a  man  love  me,  he 
will  keep  my  words  :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we 
will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him."— John 
xiv.  22-23. 


vi  CONTENTS. 

VI. 

THE   FIVE    "ONE    THINGS." 90 

"But  one  thing  is  needful." — Luke  x.  42 "One 

thing    thou    lackest."  —  Mark   x.    21 "One   thing    I 

know."— John  ix.  25 "One  thing  have  I  desired  of 

the   Lord." — Psalm  xxvii.  4 "But  this  one  thing  I 

do." — Phil.  iii.  13. 

VII. 
''TO    THE    UTTERMOST" no 

"  Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  utter- 
most that  come  unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to 
make  intercession  for  them." — Heb.  vii.  25. 

VIII. 
PERSONAL    LOVE   OF   JESUS 128 

"  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus." 
— John  xi.  5. 

IX. 

THE   MERCHANT   SEEKING   CHRIST  AND   SOUGHT 
BY    HIM 143 

"And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  This  day  is  salvation  come  to 
this  house,  forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham.  For 
the  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost." — Luke  xix.  9-10. 

X. 

TEARFUL    SOWING    AND   JOYFUL    REAPING 162 

"They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy.  He  that 
goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubt- 
less come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with 
him." — PsAL.M  cxxvi.  5-6. 

XI. 
CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE 180 

"  He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least,  is  faithful  also 
in  much  :  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  wijust  also  in 
much." — Luke  xvi.  10. 


CONTENTS.  vii 


XII. 

UNIVERSAL   THANKFULNESS 197 

"  In  every  thing  give  thanks  ;  for  this  is  the  will  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  you." — I  Thess.  v.  i8. 


xiir. 

FEAR    AND    FAITH 215 

"  What  time  I  am  afraid,  I  will  trust  in  thee." — Psalm 
Ivi.  3. 

XIV. 

NO  PERSONAL  SALVATION  EXCEPT  BY  PERSONAL 
SANCTIFICATION 235 

"  Peter  saith  unto  him  :  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet ! 
Jesus  answered  him  :  If  I  wash  thee  not  thou  hast  no  part 
with  me.  Simon  Peter  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  not  my  feet 
only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head." — John  xiii.  8-9. 


XV. 

MODERN   INDIFFERENTISM 254 

"And  Gallio  cared  for  none  of  these  things." — Acts 
xviii.  17. 

XVI. 

THE  JOY   OF   GOD'S   SALVATION 270 

"  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation,  and  uphold 
me  with  thy  free  Spirit ;  then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy 
ways,  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto  thee." — Psalm 
li.  12-13. 

XVII. 
EVERY  MAN  HIS   OWN   BUILDER 289 

"  If  any  man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  there- 
upon, he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall 
be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss :  but  he  himself  shall  be 
saved ;  yet  so  as  by  fire." — I  Cor.  iii,  14-15. 


VIU  CONTENTS. 

XVIII. 
THE   EAGLE'S    NEST 306 

"As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her 
young,  spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth 
them  on  her  wings ;  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and 
there  was  no  strange  God  ^^ith  him." — Deut.  xxxii.  11-12. 

XIX. 
OUR   HEAVENLY   HOME 327 

"  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions :  if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you."— John  xiv.  2. 

XX. 
THE   DOUBLE   CALL 349 

"And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say.  Come.  And  let  him 
that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come, 
and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 
— Rev.  xxii.  17. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I,  Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus,  was  born  in  New- 
ark, New  Jersey,  Sejotember  19,  1816,  nearly  opposite 
the  place  where  I  was  brought  up,  and  about  midway 
between  the  First  Presbyterian  Chui'ch  edifice  and 
Fair  Street,  in  the  house  afterwards  occupied  by  Mr. 
Ehsha  Whitaker. 

My  parents,  of  blessed  memory,  were  Peter  Jacobus 
and  Phebe  AVilliams,  of  whom  I  was  the  first-born. 
My  father  was  the  youngest  child  of  Cornehus  Jacobus 
and  Catherine  Garrison,  who  lived  at  Pompton  Plains, 
N.  J.  My  grandfather  died  at  eighty-two  years  of 
age,  and  my  grandmother  at  ninetj^-eight.  A  young 
brother  and  sister  died  named  "  Peter  Hamilton  "  and 
Elizabeth,  the  latter  at  five  years  of  age  giving  mar- 
vellous evidence  of  the  Christian  life.  My  brother 
Theodore  Dwight,  after  being  twice  married,  died  in 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1851.  My  sisters  Hannah  Cath- 
erine (now  Mrs.  Kichard  A.  Donaldson — widow)  and 
Frances  Elizabeth  yet  survive.  My  father  died  Au- 
gust 28,  1866,  and  my  mother  November  20,  1872,  the 
former  aged  seventy-five,  and  the  latter  eighty-one, 
both  at  70  Park  Place,  the  family  residence  in  New- 
ark, N.  J.;  and  both  are  buried  in  Fairmount  Ceme- 
tery, Newark,  on  the  ridge  overlooking  the  Passaic 
Eiver. 

The  house  to  which  my  father  removed  and  where 
I  was  brought  up  was  the  house  formerly  owned  by 
Samuel  Pennington,  and  next  (north)  to  the  residence 


X  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

of  Judge  Smith  Burnet,  the  garden  running  west 
along  the  line  of  the  Old  Burying  Ground.  My  fa- 
ther's factory  was  adjoining  the  residence  north,  the 
front  being  about  the  same  as  the  residence,  making 
together  about  forty-eight  feet  on  Broad  St.  Judge 
Burnet's  residence  was  the  place  in  which  the  first 
banking  institution  in  Newark  was  opened.  The  prop- 
erty north  of  my  father's  abutted  on  the  burying 
ground  (as  his  factory  also  did),  and  was  part  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  property.  The  origi- 
nal church  stood  on  this  ground  opposite  the  present 
church  (on  Broad  Street).  The  row  of  buildings  on 
this  leasehold  front  was  known  as  the  Brick  Row.  A 
stream  of  water  ran  north  and  south  through  the 
grounds,  and  was  allowed  to  run  up  to  my  father's 
line,  while  the  grounds  were  used  for  burial.  After 
that  it  was  filled  up  between  the  slopes,  and  gradually 
has  become  imjoroved,  with  sad  havoc  upon  the  place 
of  the  dead.  (See  Harper's  Monthly  Magazine  for 
October,  1876.) 

My  earliest  recollection  is  of  going  to  school  to  Mrs. 
Martha  Hinsdale,  in  a  frame  annex  to  the  house  of  Ja- 
bez  Hayes,  nearly  opposite  the  present  Third  Church, 
Newark;  and  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Woodruff  in  the  Brick 
Bow  nearly  opposite  the  First  Church,  Broad  Street. 
I  remember  Lewis  M.  Rutherford,  now  of  New  York 
City,  as  one  of  my  school-fellows.  Afterwards  I  began 
the  study  of  Greek  and  Latin  at  eight  years  of  age, 
and  went  to  the  Newark  Academy  to  Abraham  Van 
Doren,  who  with  his  sons  J.  Livingston  and  Luther 
Halsey  and  J.  Howard  were  principal  and  teachers  in 
that  institution,  corner  of  Academy  and  Broad  streets, 
now  occupied  by  the  post-office  building.  After  that 
I  think  it  was  under  the  charge  of  Silas  Sesson,  and 
again  of  Mr.  Rood  and  of  Rev.  Richard  Croose,  to 
whom,  in  tui'n,  I  was  sent  for  instruction.     After  that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  Xl 

to  Nathan  Hedges  for  a  short  term.  His  habit  of 
punishing  boys  by  "sending  tlvem  to  Java"  was  often 
witnessed  by  me,  but  never  experienced.  It  was  a 
forced  passage  between  his  legs  as  a  Colossus  —  the 
poor  fellows  receiving  blows  as  they  passed  through 
on  hands  and  knees.  At  the  Newark  Academy  I  re- 
member William  T.  Mercer,  Horace  Baldwin,  Matthias 
Ward,  Charles  Hornblower,  Alex.  C.  M.  Pennington, 
and  others. 

AYhen  a  boy  of  ten  to  twelve  I  was  thrown  into 
contact  with  the  aj)pr entices  and  joiumeymen  of  my 
father's  employ,  the  former  of  whom  were  members 
of  his  family,  fed  at  his  table,  and  sleeping  under  his 
roof.  My  father  had  been  apprenticed  to  Mr.  William 
Rogers  in  the  saddle  and  harness  business,  and  set  up 
for  himself  in  a  small  way,  his  only  capital  being  his 
capital  credit.  And  he  was  one  of  the  earhest  to  intro- 
duce the  southern  trade  to  Newark  along  with  Luther 
Goble  in  the  shoe  business,  Isaac  Meeker  in  clothing, 
Wm.  Rankin  in  hats,  and  Jas.  Turnbull  in  carriages. 
I  was  forward  and  active,  and  fell  readily  into  com- 
pany with  the  young  men  in  my  father's  employ.  And 
I  was  an  amateur  ajoj^r entice  myself — "  drawing  on  " 
trunks  of  horse-hide  and  seal-skin  over  wooden  box- 
frames,  stitching  girths  for  saddles,  stitching  bridle- 
reins  and  making  bridles.  This  my  father  encour- 
aged, as  an  industrial  pursuit,  cultivating  enterprise 
and  keeping  me  out  of  idleness  and  mischief.  He  al- 
lowed to  me  the  pay  received  by  other  workmen,  I 
kept  my  pass-book  and  was  credited  with  substantial 
amounts  for  this  kind  of  work.  I  have  distinct  recol- 
lection of  these  days,  of  times  of  sore  temptation  in 
which  the  loose  habits  of  the  apprentices  were  hurtful 
to  me,  notwithstanding  all  my  father's  caution.  And 
though  my  father  exercised  a  religious  watch  and  con- 
trol over  them,  and  provided  for  them  a  pew  ill  the 


XU  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

cliurcli  gallery,  handsomely  lined  and  fitted  up  with 
cushion  and  books,  they  were  far  from  safe  companions 
for  me.  I  can  easily  see  how  if  I  had  been  unchecked 
by  divine  grace,  I  should  have  become  very  wicked. 
I  remember  skating  on  the  small  streams  that  ran 
through  the  parsonage  property  of  the  Fii'st  Church, 
and  having  hot  gin  and  whiskey  with  allsj^ice  served 
to  the  family  on  Christmas  when  a  very  small  boy. 

Dk.  Jas.  Richards  was  the  pastor  of  my  father's  fam- 
ily, as  there  was  no  Dutch  church  in  Newark  such  as 
my  father  had  been  brought  up  in  at  Pompton.  I  have 
very  indistinct  recollections  of  Dr.  R. — my  earliest  as- 
sociations being  with  Rev.  Wm.  T.  Hamilton,  who  came 
to  the  Fu'st  Church  at  the  same  time  with  Joshua  T. 
Russell,  both  as  candidates.  They  divided  the  church 
amidst  high  partisan  excitement  and  angry  controver- 
sy between  the  Hamiltonians  and  Russellites,  as  they 
were  called;  the  adherents  of  the  latter  withdrawing 
and  erecting  the  Third  Church.  Mr.  Smith  Burnet, 
living  the  next  door  to  us,  and  related  to  my  mother 
by  marriage,  was  a  leader  in  the  secular  undertaking, 
though  not  himself  a  church  member. 

I  remember  my  father  taking  me  to  the  weekly 
prayer-meeting  with  him  and  to  the  nine  o'clock  Sab- 
bath morning  23ra3'er-meeting.  I  remember  going  to 
the  Sabbath-school  and  Bible  class  in  the  gallery  taught 
by  Mr.  Moses  Lyon  and  by  my  father,  when  furnishing 
written  proof-texts  was  the  weekly  exercise.  My  fa- 
ther also  encouraged  me  to  take  down  in  the  church 
the  text  and  division  of  the  sermon,  and  at  noon-time 
and  evening  I  was  expected  to  transcribe  these  memo- 
randa, with  as  full  additions  as  I  could  recall  fi'om 
memory.  This  was  a  very  useful  exercise,  inducing 
attention,  and  concentration,  and  cultivating  an  inter- 
est in  the  sermon.  Two  or  three  books  of  sermon  out- 
lines I  have  well  filled  as  a  result  of  such  traininsf. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  Xlll 

This  was  suggfested  to  my  father  by  the  example  of 
Mr.  Wm.  Tuttle,  Ruling  Elder,  who  thus  exercised  his 
son  Jos.  N.  Tuttle,  now  and  for  years  a  ruling  elder, 
as  our  fathers  were  in  the  old  First  Presbyterian 
Church. 

I  remember  the  Saturday  afternoon  catechising  in 
the  lecture  room  by  Dr.  Hamilton,  and  his  pastoral 
visits  at  the  houses  notified  from  the  x:>ulpit  on  the 
previous  Sabbath. 

I  had  the  credit  of  being  bright  at  study,  and  pro- 
ficient above  my  fellows,  and  when  I  was  about  four- 
teen 3'ears  of  age  my  father,  chiefly  as  I  believe  on 
account  of  a  revival  of  religion  in  the  village  of  Bloom- 
field  near  Newark,  determined  to  send  me  thither  to 
boarding-school.  Albert  Pierson  was  principal  and 
teacher  of  Latin;  and  there  were  several  candidates 
for  the  ministry  in  preparatory  studies  there  —  Pe- 
ter Dougherty,  John  H.  Morrison,  Elias  J.  Richards, 
Aaron  A.  Kemble  and  others.  Rev.  Gideon  A.  Judd 
was  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Bloomfield. 
I  requested  my  father  to  allow  me  to  board  with  Dr. 
Mundy,  a  young  physician  near  the  Academy,  which 
he  granted.  Dr.  M.  was  not  a  Christian,  though  he 
had  a  charming  Christian  wife,  and,  what  was  to  ma 
most  attractive,  he  had  a  fine  bay  horse,  in  which  I 
became  much  interested.  Alfred  Allen  and  others  of 
my  town-fellows  were  at  school  there,  and  were  great- 
ly exercised  in  rehgious  things.  After  I  had  begun 
my  studies,  they  urged  me  to  attend  the  prayer-meet- 
ings, which  I  was  reluctant  to  do.  I  strove  against  it 
for  some  days.  Dr.  Mundy  countenanced  me  in  my 
opposition  to  any  part  in  the  matter.  Rev.  Burtis  C. 
Magie  and  his  brother,  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
strove  with  me,  and  especially  the  good  Spiiit  of  God; 
for  one  day  at  noon  as  I  mounted  the  fence  on  my 
way  to  my  boarding-place,  I  halted  and  sat  on  the  rail, 


XIV  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

books  under  my  arm,  and  I  said  to  myself:  "Is  not 
religion  profitable  for  this  life  as  well  as  for  the  life  to 
come  ?  May  not  one  be  happy  in  it  ?  There  is  Hal- 
sted  Burnet,  a  young  neighbor  in  Newark,  who  walks 
with  head  erect  and  radiant  face,  evidently  enjoying  his 
religion ! "  I  found  my  reluctance  vanishing  there  on 
the  spot.  I  said,  "I  will  go  to  the  prayer-meeting;  I 
will  seek  rehgion."  I  made  known  my  views  to  Dr. 
Mundy.  He  said,  "  If  jou  will  go  to  the  inquiry-meet- 
ing at  the  church  to-night,  I  will  go."  We  agreed  and 
went.  He  was  deeply  moved,  came  home  and  shut 
himself  up  for  days,  and  walked  after  that  in  the  hght 
of  the  Lord,  putting  off  his  profanity  and  opposition, 
and  laboring  for  Christ.  I  strove  to  find  jDeace,  to 
"get  a  hoj)e,"  as  it  was  called.  I  heard  of  fi-ames  and 
j)rocesses  through  which  others  had  passed — tears, 
darkness,  deep  convictions  of  sin,  followed  by  sudden 
light.  I  could  get  no  such  coveted  exercises.  I  fell 
upon  my  knees  in  my  chamber,  read  Nettleton's  Cot- 
tage Hymns,  and  the  Bible,  if  possibly  the  conviction 
and  tears  and  agony  might  come,  as  with  others.  But 
no.  The  more  I  labored  for  such  a  hope,  the  more 
impossible  it  was  to  me,  till  at  length  I  said  to  myself, 
"  If  I  can  not  be  saved  without  passing  through  such 
processes,  I  can  not  be  saved  at  all,"  when  the  thought 
flashed  across  me,  "  Thou  fool,  looking  for  your  spec- 
tacles when  they  are  on  your  nose !  Jesus  Christ  has 
wept,  and  agonized,  and  died  for  me,  and  all  this  prep- 
aration and  provision  is  completed  for  me  by  him!" 
Oh  blessed  thought !  Here  I  rested  in  Christ  and  his 
finished  work.  I  remember  Dr.  I.  M.  Ward,  Jesse 
Baldwin,  Jr.,  and  Burtis  C.  j^.Iagie  and  his  brother  as 
interested  in  conversing  with  me.  Later  the  Rev.  Ed- 
win Hall,  afterwards  Professor  of  Theology  at  Auburn 
Seminary,  was  principal. 

jRev.  Asahel  Nettleton  was  at  this  time  preaching  in 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  XV 

Newark.  My  custom  was  to  walk  home  from  the 
Academy  to  Newark,  four  miles,  on  Saturday,  and 
return  on  Monday.  This  gave  me  opj^ortunity  to  at- 
tend many  of  those  wonderful  revival  meetings,  espe- 
cially to  hear  Mr.  Nettleton's  very  solemn  exhortation, 
surpassing,  in  awful  solemnity,  any  that  I  have  ever 
heard  from  others.  Rev.  Mr.  Norton  and  Rev.  Joel 
Parker  also  preached  at  times  during  the  revival  sea- 
son in  Newark.  During  this  term  of  religioiis  awak- 
ening in  Bloomfield,  a  similar  season  was  enjoyed  at 
Caldwell,  N.  J.,  and  we  frequently  rode  to  Caldwell 
on  a  winter's  night  in  an  open  wagon,  to  join  in  the 
services  there,  in  the  academy  of  which  Mr.  Crane 
was  the  jDrincij^al.  Those  were  truly  gracious,  pre- 
cious times  which  I  can  never  forget. 

Prior  to  this  change  in  m}^  views  I  had  my  mind  set 
upon  the  law  as  my  probable  profession,  though  I 
very  well  and  early  knew  that  my  parents  had  sol- 
emnly devoted  me  fi^om  my  birth  to  the  Gospel  min- 
istry. Now,  however,  my  whole  aim  in  life  was  sud- 
denly and  jDositively  changed.  Every  object  seemed 
new  to  me.  As  I  walked  along  the  highway  to  New- 
ark, I  remember  how  the  trees  seemed  to  clap  their 
hands,  and  the  hills  to  be  joj^ul  together,  as  sharers 
in  my  new-born  joy;  and,  how,  as  I  walked  the  streets, 
all  things  were  new.  I  could  find  no  attraction  in  the 
ministry  from  a  secular  and  social  point  of  view.  I 
had  run  away  fi'om  the  pastor  (Dr.  Hamilton)  when 
he  came  on  his  round  of  visitation,  and  I  could  only 
expect  the  like  treatment  for  myself.  Some  who  had 
labored  with  me  for  my  conversion  afterwards  sjDoke 
favorably  of  my  taking  a  partnership  with  my  father 
in  his  business,  which  opened  to  me  so  inviting  and 
lucrative  a  prospect.  But  I  could  never  contemplate 
m}'  life-work  in  any  other  hght  than  this  of  a  call  to 
the  ministry,  and  I  have  never  had  any  serious  doubt 


XVI  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

from  the  beginning  of  my  new  life  that  this  was  my 
proper  and  apj)ointed  work. 

When  I  appeared  for  the  first  time  before  the  ses- 
sion in  Newark,  for  examination  with  a  view  to  unit- 
ing with  the  First  Presbyterian  Chui'ch,  my  father  was 
rather  incHned  to  have  me  wait  till  another  season. 
The  elders,  esjDecially  Mr.  Obadiah  Woodruff,  were 
close  in  their  examinations.  I  remember  that  Mr.  W. 
inquired  particularly  if  I  was  not  given  to  quickness 
of  temper,  which  sometimes  got  the  advantage.  And 
upon  frank  confession  of  this  (however  ascertained), 
and  in  consideration  of  my  youth  (about  fourteen),  I 
was  advised  to  wait,  according  to  my  father's  hesitancy 
and  desire  that  I  should  be  well  proved.  At  the  next 
sitting  for  the  following  communion  season,  I  was  ad- 
mitted at  the  same  time  with  Mr.  Wm.  Wallace,  Jr., 
and  others. 

When  it  became  settled  that  I  should  make  ready 
for  the  sophomore  class  in  Princeton  College,  I  sought 
and  enjoyed  the  services  of  Wm.  Dod,  a  recent  gradu- 
ate and  a  superior  mathematician,  to  prepare  me  in 
the  study  of  algebra,  and  I  pursued  some  other  studies 
with  Mr.  Nathan  Hedges.  I  weU.  remember  how,  in 
September,  1831,  my  father  conveyed  me  with  my 
baggage,  bed  and  bedding  to  Princeton.  We  rode 
into  the  town  on  the  open  wagon  (one  horse)  which 
carried  its  load  of  goods,  and  as  I  caught  the  first 
sight  of  the  Old  North  College,  with  its  prison  look, 
I  felt  a  cold  chill  run  over  me,  of  shrinking  from  the 
ordeal  I  was  to  undergo.  I  had  the  advantage  of 
having  a  friend,  who  was  a  candidate  for  the  ministry 
and  who  entered  college  at  the  same  time,  Aaron  A. 
Kemble,  from  Haddonfield,  N.  J.,  who  had  also  been  a 
fellow-student  at  the  Bloomfield  Academy.  He  took 
great  interest  in  me  and  did  much,  by  daily  counsel 
and  example,  to  stimulate  me  to  exertion  in  study. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  XVU 

He  became  my  room-mate.  He  was  a  smoker.  But 
b}'  my  father's  special  caution  and  admonition  I  was 
mercifully  kept  from  being  led  under  bondage  to  such 
a  habit,  and  I  have  never  smoked  tobacco. 

One  of  the  tutors  at  college  at  this  time  was  the  Rev. 
Festus  Hanli:s.  His  department  was  mathematics.  In 
demonstrating  propositions  in  Euchd  I  was  summoned 
to  the  large  slate  blackboard,  which  was  mounted  on 
a  huge  frame  in  a  corner  of  the  recitation  room.  One 
day  I  remember  when,  a  certain  nervous  timidity  that 
afflicted  me  almost  choked  my  uttterance  fi'om  a  fear 
I  had  of  hearing  my  own  voice,  and  a  di'ead  of  break- 
ing down  in  the  recitation  of  what  I  perfectly  knew, 
Mr.  Hanks  spoke  and  said:  "Don't  be  afi'aid,  Mr. 
Jacobus.  You  have  no  need  of  fear."  This  made  my 
agitation  all  the  worse,  and  rather  served  to  call  atten- 
tion of  the  class  to  what  I  still  hoped  might  escape 
their  notice.  This  agitation  at  any  reciting  before  the 
class  clung  to  me  throughout  my  college  course,  and 
greatly  embarrassed  me,  requiring  as  it  did  a  very 
special  memorizing  to  put  me  in  command  of  my  les- 
sons, and  mflicting  on  me  a  severe  distress  on  every 
occasion  of  my  j^ublic  appearance.  Though  I  was  the 
youngest  in  my  class,  so  far  as  I  know,  I  stood  at  the 
head  and  took  the  first  honors  in  each  year.  In  the 
junior  year.  Prof.  Albert  B.  Dod,  being  our  mathe- 
matical professor,  gave  to  three  or  four  of  us  the 
mark  "No.  1,  Distinguished" — I  remember  Shipley, 
Ed.  Pendleton  and  myself. 

In  the  junior  j^ear  I  was  chosen  by  the  Cho  HaU  as 
one  of  the  junior  orators,  along  with  Parke  Godwin 
and  Elias  J.  Richards.  And  at  the  close  of  the  senior 
year,  I  was  assigned  the  first  honor  along  with  Edward 
Pendleton  of  the  AViiig  Hall,  my  classmate  fi-om  Mar- 
tinsburg,  Va.  He  was,  throughout  the  course,  a  very 
accui^ate  and  accomphshed  scholar,  and  well  deserved 


XVlil  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

a  share  in  the  honor.  The  Latin  salutatory  fell  to  me 
by  lot,  and  the  English  salutatory  fell  to  him.  It  was 
customary  at  that  time  to  divide  the  honors,  1st,  2d, 
3d,  and  4th,  between  several.  The  Clio  Hall  treated 
my  honor  as  equivalent  to  "  Solua "  as  it  was  Solus  in 
the  hall  division,  and  they  accorded  to  me  the  very 
s]Decial  honor  which  they  were  wont  to  give  to  such. 
The  testimonial  remains  in  the  hall  to  this  day. 

After  the  honors  were  announced  that  same  day,  I 
met  my  professor,  Jas.  W.  Alexander,  on  the  steps  of 
the  hotel.  He  grasped  my  hand  and  said  with  hearti- 
ness: "I  shall  always  be  glad  to  hear  of  your  pros- 
perity." I  shall  never  forget  the  actions  or  the  words. 
He  never  failed  to  make  them  good. 

After  the  commencement,  though  I  was  not  yet 
eighteen  years  of  age  (until  the  nineteenth  of  the 
month),  the  president,  Dr.  Jas.  Carnahan,  informed 
me  that  the  trustees  had  elected  me  tutor  in  the 
college,  and  he  added  his  wish  that  I  should  serve. 
This  was  a  surprise  to  me.  I  shrank  from  the  tutor's 
exposure  among  rowdy  college  boys,  as  I  had  seen 
them  suffer  all  manner  of  indignities,  and,  considering 
my  youth,  I  doubted.  I  referred  it  to  my  father,  and 
he  referred  for  counsel  to  his  former  pastor.  Dr.  Jas. 
Eichards.  His  counsel  was  that,  as  I  was  to  be  a 
preacher,  he  would  advise  me  not  to  be  a  pedagogue. 
And  this  counsel  was  fully  in  accord  with  my  feelings. 

As  I  had  age  on  my  side,  and  had  no  need  to  hasten 
to  my  profession,  I  determined  to  take  a  year's  respite 
from  study  for  reading  and  active  employment  in  my 
father's  ofiice.  This  latter  I  was  inclined  to,  as  my 
father's  business  was  expanding,  and  trade  with  the 
far  south  and  south-west  was  existing  at  that  time 
of  spirited  competition.  This  commercial  experience 
was  indeed  a  great  gain  to  me.  It  gave  me  knowl- 
edge of  business  and  an  insight  into  that  particular 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  XIX 

branch  which  enabled  me  to  give  substantial  aid  to 
my  father  in  time  of  need.  I  made  out  bills,  con- 
ducted corresj)ondence,  kej)t  books,  waited  on  buyers, 
and  often  went  after  them  and  showed  them  atten- 
tions which  secured  their  orders.  This  was  pleasant 
to  me;  yet  it  did  not  alienate  me  from  my  work. 
Though  it  seemed  to  my  father  and  to  some  of  our 
best  fi'iends  that  Providence  oj)ened  the  way  to  me  to 
become  partner  with  my  father  at  that  time  when  his 
business  required  extension  and  a  joint  headship,  jet 
I  was  never  for  a  moment  moved  even  to  a  doubt 
about  my  great  high  calling  to  the  ministry. 

Accordingly,  in  1836, 1  entered  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary at  Princeton. 

[September  Idth,  1876.  This  day,  a  hrilliant  sky  and 
inviting  air,  I  am  sixty  yk.\rs  old,  writing  these 
reminiscences  of  early  life;  thankful  to  a  Covenant 
God  for  his  great  goodness  luherewith  he  has  dis- 
tinguished my  lot,  and  hopeful  for  other  years  of 
usefulness.'] 

Drs.  Alexander  (Archibald)  and  Miller  were  pro- 
fessors, and  Dr.  Addison  Alexander  assistant,  and  Dr. 
John  Breckinridge  a  portion  of  the  time,  the  last  as 
missionary  professor  for  a  very  short  period.  Theo- 
logical discussions  were  rife  in  the  church,  and  debat- 
ing clubs  were  formed  among  the  students.  Samuel 
W.  Fisher  and  Thos.  Wickes  took  the  side  of  the 
new  theology,  and  John  McAuley  dealt  much  in  Dr. 
Nath'n  AV.  Taylor's  system,  that  "all  sin  consists  in 
voluntary  action." 

In  1837  occui'red  the  great  schism  in  the  church, 
the  trial  of  Albert  Barnes  and  also  the  formation  of 
a  new  assembly,  accompanying  the  exscinding  acts  of 
the  Old  School  body.     The  students  were  of  course 


XX  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

mucli  excited.  Some  of  them  attended  the  trial  in 
Philadelj)hia,  Samuel  E.  Wilson  among  them.  When 
Judge  Rogers'  decision  was  announced,  favoring  the 
New  School  claims,  the  jDrofessors  were  alarmed  and 
queried  what  course  they  should  take.  But  soon 
Charles  J.  Gibson's  decision  reversed  the  Rogers'  ver- 
dict, and  there  was  peace  in  the  Seminary.  My  friends 
at  Newark,  as  might  have  been  expected,  were  strong- 
ly in  sympathy  with  the  party  which  was  led  by  Dr. 
Fisher  and  Dr.  Richards.  But  my  own  mind  was 
fixed  on  the  side  of  the  standards  and  the  true  suc- 
cession as  I  understood  it. 

When  my  course  of  three  years  was  finished,  though 
I  had  invitations  to  one  or  two  fields.  Dr.  Alexander 
(Archibald),  one  day  at  the  close  of  my  course,  an- 
nounced to  me  that  it  had  been  determined  to  invite 
me  to  remain  as  tutor  in  Hebrew — assistant  to  Dr. 
Addison  Alexander,  at  a  salary  of  $200  provided  by 
the  Roswell  Colt  Fellowship  (Paterson,  N.  J.).  This 
suited  my  taste  entirely,  and  I  was  glad  to  remain. 
It  fell  to  me  to  conduct  the  study  of  the  entering  class 
in  Hebrew  grammar.  At  that  time  Dr.  Isaac  Nord- 
heimer  was  preparing  and  putting  through  the  press 
his  admirable  grammar,  and  was  doing  much  of  the 
work  at  Princeton.  Here  I  fell  in  with  him  intimately, 
and  enjoyed  walks  and  talks  with  this  remarkable 
man.  He  presented  to  me  a  copy  of  his  grammar, 
first  pubhshed,  with  his  autograph.  I  also  copied 
his  notes  and  lectures  on  Syriac  and  Arabic  gram- 
mar, and  became  deeply  interested  in  his  plans  foi 
publishing  these  and  other  works,  which  plans  were 
broken  up  by  his  untimely  death.  I  was  one  of  a 
class  to  whom  he  lectured,  and  one  of  a  class  of  Addi- 
son Alexander's  in  special  Hebrew  studies  duiing  my 
seminary  course.  This  elegant  scholar  (Dr.  A.)  took 
lively  interest  in  me,   and   gave  into  my  hands  the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  XXI 

Book  of  Malaclii,  to  prepare  a  commentary,  which  I 
did  in  my  v^HY.  This  exercise  served  to  direct  my 
studies  in  the  department  of  exegesis,  and  thus  a 
taste  was  developed  for  this  line  of  investigation. 

During  this  year  I  was  hcensed  to  preach  by  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  sitting  at  Freehold, 
N.  J.,  in  the  church  of  Rev.  D.  V.  McLean.  It  Avas 
the  period  of  great  speculation  in  the  morus  multi- 
caulis  tree,  in  which  Mr.  McLean  was  prominent  as  a 
cultivator  and  dealer  in  the  article.  The  j)ropagation 
of  the  tree  by  buds  was  very  profitable,  and  the  ex- 
citement ran  high  in  the  production  of  silk-worms  and 
their  food. 

During  my  course  in  the  Seminary,  I  took  active 
part  with  Robert  Bu'ch  (afterwards  settled  as  pastor 
of  Fii'st  Presbyterian  Chirrch,  New  Brunswick)  in  con- 
ducting a  Sabbath-school  at  Blawenbxu-gh  near  Prince- 
ton; the  people  coming  for  us  alternately  in  a  wagon 
on  Saturday  and  bringing  us  back  on  Monday  morn- 
ing. This  was  the  only  approach  to  pulpit  exercise 
which  the  custom  of  the  Seminary  allowed  prior  to 
licensure,  and  the  hcensui'e  was  not  given  until  gradu- 
ation. So  I  foirnd  myself  set  loose  upon  the  churches 
with  this  permit  to  jDreach,  before  having  any  exercise 
in  preaching,  except  the  ten-minute  exercise  in  the 
oratory  of  the  Seminary  two  or  three  times  in  the 
course.  It  had  happened  with  me  that  being  in  the 
village  of  Orange,  N.  J.,  I  was  pressed  by  the  vener- 
able Dr.  Hillyer,  then  pastor  of  the  first  church,  to 
occupy  his  pulpit  on  a  Sabbath  evening.  Rev.  Dr. 
Fisher  was  also  j^resent,  and  another  clergj^man  whom 
I  do  not  remember.  It  was  claimed  that  there  were 
three  present  (enough  to  form  a  Presb^'tery),  and  Dr. 
H.  said  they  would  license  me  for  the  occasion.  But, 
as  he  was  to  be  present,  it  was  considered  orderly,  and 
I  preached.     This,  so  far  as  I  remember,  besides  once 


XXU  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

speaking  of  an  evening  in  the  Orange  school-house,  at 
the  solicitation  of  Mr.  Aaron  Peck,  was  the  whole  of 
my  public  work  in  preaching  prior  to  Hcensure,  be- 
yond the  Sabbath  addresses  as  conductor  of  the  Sab- 
bath-school akeady  referred  to. 

But  now,  as  I  came  to  my  graduation  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  and  had  accepted  the  proposal  an- 
nounced to  me  by  the  venerable  Dr.  A.  Alexander, 
to  continue  a  year  as  tutor  (or  fellow)  in  Hebrev/,  I 
was  not  a  candidate  for  any  pulpit.  I  preached  occa- 
sionally, however,  in  Newark,  and  elsewhere  near  at 
hand.  It  occurred,  towards  the  close  of  the  year, 
that  I  received  an  urgent  call  from  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Brooklyn,  New  York.  It  was  on 
this  wise: 

During  a  vacation  in  the  Seminary,  I  was  asked  to 
supply  the  pulpit  of  the  church  from  which  Dr.  Cox's 
(Sam'l  Hanson)  church  had  separated  by  v/ithdrawal 
from  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  schism  of  1837. 
This  remnant  (among  them,  prominent  as  elders  and 
trustees,  Adrian  Van  Sinderin,  Daniel  Colt  and  oth- 
ers, elders — and  John  Laidlow,  Judge  Peter  Eadcliif 
and  others,  trustees,  etc.,  and  Rev.  Jonathan  Green- 
leaf,  secretary  of  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society  in  N.  Y.) 
was  worshipping  in  a  haU,  at  the  corner  of  Fulton  and 
Cranberry  streets,  where  I  first  preached  to  them,  not 
at  all  as  a  candidate,  but  only  as  a  temporary  supply. 
They,  however,  were  pleased,  after  advising  with  Dr. 
Benjamin  H.  Rice,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Princeton, 
and  Drs.  Alexander,  Miller  and  others  of  the  Semi- 
nary, to  formally  present  and  urge  their  call  upon  me 
to  become  their  pastor.  This  was  quite  contrary  to 
my  thought,  as  I  had  been  devoting  myself  to  my 
work  in  the  Seminar}^,  and  had  made  no  further  prep- 
aration of  sermons  for  settlement,  not  expecting  so 
soon  to  enter  the  field.     But  after  fuH  consideration 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  XXlll 

of  tlie  case,  in  sucli  a  crisis,  with  sucli  urgency  of  the 
call,  I  was  led  to  accept  what  seemed  to  be  my  duty 
before  God  and  man. 


Here  his  own  manuscript  ends. — Though  unfinished 
and  never  revised,  it  is  offered  as  more  particular  and 
interesting  than  any  history  of  those  earlier  and  for- 
mative years  which  could  be  prepared.  Five  weeks 
after  the  last  words  were  penned,  Dr.  Jacobus  "  was 
not — for  God  took  him."  And  it  remains  our  sad 
duty  briefly  to  enumerate  the  events  of  that  briUiant 
and  busy  life  which  closed  on  earth  at  threescore 
years. 

Having  accepted  an  unanimous  and  urgent  call  fi'om 
the  First  Presb}i;erian  Church  of  Brooklyn,  he  was  in- 
stalled pastor  in  the  fall  of  1839,  and  entered  u^Don  his 
duties  at  the  time  when  the  church  was  involved  in 
the  controversies  ensuing  upon  the  rujoture  of  1838. 

In  January,  1840,  he  was  married  to  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Samuel  Hayes,  M.  D.,  of  Newark,  N.  J. 
He  labored  successfully  in  Brooklyn  during  eleven 
years,  in  which  tnne  the  church  was  well  established 
as  one  of  the  most  floui'ishing  in  the  Presbytery.  It 
was  at  this  time  he  received  the  first  warning  of 
impaii'ed  health.  Added  to  his  pastoral  and  pulpit 
labors,  he  had  undertaken  the  preparation  of  a  Com- 
mentary upon  the  Gospels,  the  first  volume  of  which 
was  published  in  1848.  The  confinement  and  exhaus- 
tion of  this  additional  work  led  to  a  disease  of  the 
throat,  which  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  inter- 
mit his  labors,  and  seek  refi'eshment  and  health  in  a 
foreign  tour.  In  the  fall  of  1850,  his  congregation 
granted  him  a  year's  furlough  for  travel,  and  made 
liberal  provision  for  supplying  his  pulj^it.  Accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  he  travelled  over  the  continent 


XXIV  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

of  Europe  and  then  extended  his  tour  into  Egj^^t 
and  the  Holy  Land,  returning  by  Constantinople  and 
Greece.  He  reached  home  in  September,  1851,  great- 
ly benefited  in  health,  and  more  thoroughly  furnished 
for  his  work  by  his  journeyings  among  classic  and 
Bible  lands. 

It  was  during  this  absence  that  an  event  occurred 
which  changed  the  course  of  his  subsequent  hfe.  The 
chaii*  of  Oriental  and  Bibhcal  Literature  in  the  West- 
ern Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny  City,  Penna., 
was  vacant;  and  the  attention  of  the  directors  being 
attracted  to  his  rising  fame,  both  as  a  preacher  and 
commentator,  he  was  chosen  to  fill  the  position.  The 
General  Assembly  in  May,  1851,  confirmed  this  nom- 
ination, and  duly  elected  him  to  this  jDrofessorship. 
This  call  met  him  in  a  foreign  land,  and  he  was  not 
yet  thirt^^-five  years  of  age.  Finding  his  health  greatly 
improved  by  the  season  of  rest  and  travel,  and  feehng 
that  the  comparative  quiet  of  a  professorship,  in  an 
interior  chmate,  was  more  suitable  to  his  habits  as 
well  as  desirable  for  the  preservation  of  his  life,  he 
resigned  his  pastorate  in  Brooklyn,  amid  the  regrets 
of  his  admiring  and  united  people,  and,  accejDting  the 
chair  of  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature,  removed  io 
Allegheny  City,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  in  the 
early  j^art  of  1852. 

This  new  position  was  favorable  to  the  accompli  ali- 
ment of  the  ideal  of  his  life—the  completion  of  a 
commentary  upon  the  sacred  Scriptures.  His  volume 
upon  "Matthew"  had  already  been  published;  but 
now,  fresh  fi'om  the  scenes  of  the  Holy  Land,  he 
took  up  the  interrupted  work,  and  in  1853  issued  his 
second  volume  on  "Mark  and  Luke."  This  was  fol- 
lowed in  1856  by  his  valuable  work  on  "  The  Gosp  3I 
of  John,"  and  in  1859  with  a  still  more  elaborate  com- 
mentary on  "The  Acts  of  the  Apostles."    In  1862  these 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  XXV 

"Notes  on  the  Gospels"  were  republished  in  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  and  obtained  an  extensive  cii'cula- 
tion.  In  1864-5  the  two  volumes  on  "Genesis"  were 
issued.  These  books  evince  great  labor  and  research, 
and  in  a  brief  space  furnish  a  mass  of  material  made 
ready  for  the  use  of  Bible  students. 

In  February,  1858,  he  was  called  to  the  pastorate 
of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church  of  Pittsburg,  and 
for  more  than  fourteen  years  ministered  in  addition  to 
the  duties  of  his  professorship,  with  remarkable  zeal, 
to  the  upbuilding  of  this  church. 

In  the  church — its  ecclesiastical  courts,  its  benevo- 
lent enterprises  and  its  great  controversies — he  has 
been  an  active  participant.  He  attained  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  honors  that  could  be  conferred  upon 
him.  The  scholastic  degrees  of  D.D.  (Jefferson  Col- 
lege, 1852)  and  LL.D.  (CoUege  of  New  Jersey,  1867) 
adorn  his  name.  He  is  associated,  historicall}^  with 
the  grandest  event  in  the  history  of  our  church, — as 
Moderator  of  the  Old  School  Assembly  at  the  time  of 
the  Picunion  in  1869-70. 

In  1870,  the  matter  of  Ministerial  Sustentation  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  the  first  Assembly  of  the  re- 
united church,  and  a  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Jacobus 
was  chairman,  was  appointed  to  consider  and  repoi-t 
upon  the  question  of  more  adequate  pastoral  support. 
In  1871,  the  Assembly  adojDted  the  scheme  which  was 
proposed,  appointed  a  committee  to  take  it  in  charge, 
and  elected  Dr.  Jacobus  to  be  its  secretaiy — a  post 
which  he  accepted  and  held  for  three  years  on  the 
condition  that  he  should  receive  no  salary  for  his  ser- 
vices. The  duties  of  this  position  were  discharged,  in 
addition  to  his  full  professorial  work  in  the  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  and  his  pastorate  in  Pittsburg.  In  1874 
he  resigned  his  official  connection  mth  this  scheme, 
and  the  General  Assembly  paid  a  handsome  tribute  to 


XXVI  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

tlie  value  and  disinterestedness  of  his  services  by  a 
resolution  of  unqualified  commendation. 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  he  was  elected  secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presb;^iierian  Church, 
and  was  urgently  pressed  to  accept  this  position,  for 
which  he  was  remarkably  qualified  by  his  long  associ- 
ation with  students  for  the  ministry.  His  reasons  for 
dechning  that  position  will  appear  from  a  brief  extraci 
of  a  letter  written  at  the  time : 

"  You  may  be  sui'prised  to  learn  that,  after  weighing 
all  my  duty  in  regard  to  the  secretarj^ship,  I  am  not 
able  to  see  my  way  clear  to  accept  the  invitation. 
The  work  would  take  me  so  entu-ely  off  my  track  of 
life-long  occupation, — in  the  office  and  on  the  wing, 
vindicating  the  cause,  and  appealing  for  funds,  and 
taking  a  sort  of  oversight  of  candidates — that  I  find 
myseK  shrinking  from  it,  and  fearing  that  my  nervous 
system  might  not  bear  the  strain.  I  therefore  more 
readily  fall  in  with  the  protests  from  Allegheny,  and 
with  the  counsel  of  many  Eastern  friends,  who  say 
that,  while  I  am  the  man  for  the  post,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  is  the  post  for  me.  And,  much  as  I  should 
hke  the  idea  of  rendering  the  church  important  ser- 
vice, I  can  not  be  sure  that  even  at  self-sacrifice  I 
should  be  able  to  endure  it.  I  wait,  then,  the  will  and 
providence  of  God.  I  would  like  to  pursue  my  Bib- 
lical studies,  and  put  my  material  of  twenty-five  years 
into  shape.  PerhajDS  I  may  have  mistaken  my  duty; 
but  I  have  every  way  sought  light." 

At  the  opening  of  the  new  term  of  the  Western  The- 
ological Seminary,  September,  1876,  he  dehvered  the 
address:  his  theme,  "Bible  Study,  Professional  and 
Popular." 

In  the  following  month  he  attended  the  Synod  oi 
Pittsburg,  of  which  he  Avas  a  member,  and  took  an  ac- 
tive part  in  its  proceedings.     He  addi-essed  the  Synod 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  xxvil 

upon  various  matters  which  were  under  discussion,  and 
particularly  made  an  earnest  ap23eal  on  behalf  of  the 
cause  of  sustentation,  in  which  he  continued  to  take  a 
lively  interest. 

On  the  same  week  he  spent  a  day  (Thursday,  Oct. 
26th),  by  special  appointment  in  conference  with  Rev. 
Dr.  C.  C.  Beatty  about  jDlans  for  the  future  w^elfare  of 
the  Seminary.  His  mind  was  full  of  valuable  sugges- 
tions, and  his  enthusiastic  natui'e  looked  forward  with 
hopefulness  to  the  future  advancement  of  that  institu- 
tion. Reference  being  had  to  the  half-century  cele- 
bration of  the  Seminary  next  spring,  he  remarked,  "At 
the  same  time  I  shall  celebrate  my  quarter  century  of 
connection  with  it,  and  we  both  shall  enter  upon  a  new 
course  of  usefulness."  On  Friday  he  attended  to  his 
usual  Seminary  duties,  and  on  Saturday  morning  (Oct. 
28th)  the  community  v/as  startled  with  the  intelligence 
that  he  was  no  more.  He  worked  up  to  the  very 
last,  without  the  loss  of  an  hour  or  a  single  lecture, 
and  entered  upon  a  higher  service  in  heaven — dying 
in  the  harness — falhng  on  the  field — his  busy,  useful 
life  ending  suddenly  and  mysteriously,  almost  without 
seeing  death  or  tasting  its  bitterness. 


I. 

THE  CHRISTIANS   HERITAGE. 

"  For  all  things  are  yours;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas, 
or  the  World,  or  Life,  or  Death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come; 
all  are  yours;  and  ye  are  Christ's;  and  Christ  is  God's." — I  CoR. 
iii.  21-23. 

The  apostle  here  takes  an  inventory  of  the  be- 
liever's possessions,  it'  so  be  he  may  tempt  him  to 
tlie  enjoyment  of  the  Christian's  heritage.  It  is 
given  in  large  figures.  It  is  based  on  calculations 
which  the  world  do  not  understand.  It  will  seem 
to  the  uninitiated  to  be  visionary;  like  those  w41d 
reckonings,  which  are  only  on  jjaper,  and  are  not 
sustained  by  the  facts.  But  it  is  as  if  a  man  had 
been  notified  of  immense  estates,  bequeathed  to 
him  beyond  the  seas,  from  a  long-forgotten  rela- 
tive. And  the  man  himself  is  slow  to  believe  it 
all — has  not  even  faith  enough  in  the  good  news 
to  go  and  take  possession,  or  even  to  enter  his 
claim.  And  so  the  Christian,  by  the  death  of  his 
Kinsman  Redeemer,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  has  be- 
come heir  to  a  patrimony  in  two  worlds,  which 
transcends  all  our  arithmetic. 

How  seldom  do  we  think  of  the  term  Testament, 
as  a  legacy,  and  a  legacy  to  you  and  me.     It  is 


2  THE    christian's    HERITAGE. 

not  often  noticed,  liow  this  Gospel  announcement 
is  made  as  a  'preface  to  the  Decalogue^  and  must  be 
read  and  received  before  any  one  of  the  command- 
ments can  be  understood  or  obeyed — "I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God—ih?it  have  hrouglit  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  out  of  tlie  house  of  bondage." 
"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me." 

The  apostle  reaches  his  point  in  the  text  by 
exhorting  these  Corinthians  against  their  narrow 
jealousies,  which  divided  their  Christian  interests. 
He  advances  the  large  idea,  that  instead  of  boast- 
ing ourselves  against  each  other,  as  to  our  Chris- 
tian privileges,  we  ought  rather  to  be  sharers  in 
each  other's  joy.  For  this  Cliristian  treasure  that 
we  have  in  the  cliurch  and  the  ministry,  is  not 
such  as  is  reduced  by  others  sharing  it.  It  is  like 
the  lights  which  is  its  scriptural  emblem.  It  be- 
comes brighter  all  around,  by  others  lighting  their 
torches  from  it.  Therefore  all  that  we  have  from 
Christ  is  ours — and  all  that  our  brethren  have  from 
Christ  may  be  enjoyed  as  ours  also,  if  we  will  only 
enter  into  their  joy.  Just  as,  even  in  worldly  prop- 
erty, where  the  mine  and  the  thine  are  so  distinctly 
pressed,  I  may  enter  into  the  joy  of  my  neighbor, 
and  may  share  his  possessions,  by  looking  out 
upon  his  gardens  and  groves,  and  getting  the  com- 
fort of  them,  without  the  care  of  their  keeping. 
Just  as  I  may  even  enjoy  his  happiness,  as  a 
sharer  with  him  in  all  that  blesses  his  lot,  if  I 
have  only  the  large-heartedness  to  "rejoice  with 
them  that  do  rejoice." 

I  remember  just  such  a  man  on  Brooklyn  Heights, 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  3 

looking  out  daily  from  his  window  upon  that  bean- 
tifiil  bay,  with  its  fairy  scenes ;  and  he  used  often 
to  say  to  me,  "  I  Avould  not  take  a  thousand  dollars 
for  my  interest  in  Governor's  Island."  He  made  it 
daily  his  own,  by  roaming  over  it  with  liis  eye, 
and  feeling  all  the  charm  of  it,  as  an  appendage 
of  his  grounds,  and  it  was  quite  as  though  he  had 
the  title  deed  for  it,  only  without  the  taxes  and 
the  care.  For  no  one  could  carry  it  away  from  its 
lovely  seat  in  the  bosom  of  that  glorious  water, 
and  no  one  could  shut  it  out  from  his  view.  And 
therefore,  though  the  government  owned  it  for  an 
arsenal  grounds,  it  was  his  for  all  his  better  pur- 
pose of  enchanting  scenery. 

There  are  three  couplets  here — under  which  the 
all  things  are  grouped. 

The  Church  and  the  World;  Life  and  Death; 
The  Present  and  the  Future. 

The  first  item  in  the  Christian's  inventory  is — 
that  the  Christian  ministry  is  yours.  Paul,  Apollos, 
Cephas — they  all  belong  to  the  believer.  "For 
who  is  Paul,  and  who  is  Apollos,  but  ministers 
by  whom  ye  believed  ?  "  What  is  their  function, 
but  to  instruct,  guide,  and  comfort  you — to  pro- 
claim to  you  the  Gospel  message,  and  to  help  you 
on  to  glory  ?  *  Not  alone  your  own  pastor,  nor 
alone  the  ministers  of  your  own  denomination 
even,  whom  you  have  cherished  and  boasted;  but 
others  also,  and  the  whole  company  of  them,  are 
yours  for  Christian  service,  and  yours  as  bound 
up  with  you  in  the  same  great  interest,  which  you 
and  they  together  represent.     They  belong  to  you, 


4  THE    CHRISTIANS    HERITAGE. 

as  they  do  not  to  the  outside  world,  who  w^ill  have 
none  of  their  care  and  guidance.  They  belong  to 
you  as  the  shepherd  belongs  to  the  flock — as  the 
teacher  belongs  to  the  school.  They  are  not  yours 
to  set  up  one  against  another — not  to  criticise,  and 
to  neglect,  and  to  condemn.  But  they  are  all  yours 
with  their  respective  gifts  and  qualities,  to  profit 
by  them  all.  The  one  may  give  more  instruction, 
the  other  more  admonition  or  consolation.  And 
no  one  of  the  true  ministers  of  Clirist,  is  so  weak 
or  so  humble,  but  he  can  dispense  to  you  the  truth 
from  the  skies — ^just  as  an  infant  can  cast  a  seed 
into  the  furrow,  as  well  as  an  archangel. 

And  who  can  calculate  what  wealth  of  benefit 
and  blessing  is  involved  in  this  single  item,  to  a 
believer!  Strike  out  all  that  you  get  from  the 
ministrations  of  the  sanctuary,  and  from  the  pre- 
cept and  example,  or  influence  of  the  Christian 
ministry  in  any  household  or  community,  from 
childhood  up,  and  what  a  blank  is  left.  If  you  do 
not  get  good  from  the  minister,  it  is  most  likely 
that  you  do  not  value  the  message.  For  what  is 
the  man  to  the  message?  A  menial  servant  can 
bring  me  ncAvs  from  my  home  that  shall  gladden 
my  heart  forever.  The  meanest  minister  brings 
you  the  good  news  from  heaven. 

But  a  second  item  in  this  inventoy^y  of  the  Chris- 
tian's estate,  is  the  world.  This  is  a  large  item. 
Is  there  no  mistake  ?  Or  is  it  on  the  list  only  by 
some  theological  fiction  or  exaggeration?  Can  it 
fairly  be  said  of  every  Christian,  that  the  ivorld  is 
his — that  be  he  prince  or  pauper — master  or  slave 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  5 

— millionaire  or  beggar — he  owns  the  world?  That 
what  the  wordliiig  is  striving  to  gain  at  the  peril 
of  his  own  soul,  even  the  whole  world,  he  has 
gained  along  with  the  saving  of  his  soul,  and  even 
by  means  of  his  soul's  salvation?  But,  is  it  not 
rather  said  in  the  Scripture,  that  the  world  is  his 
enemy,  and  that  the  world's  friendship  is  enmity 
with  God? 

Let  us  see.  I  undertake  to  emphasize  it.  The 
world  is  the  Christian  s,  first  of  all,  because  his  Father 
made  it  and  oions  it.  "If  children  then  heirs,  heirs 
of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ."  And  the 
Christian  is  the  man  who  is  rightful  owner  and 
heir  of  the  world.  It  was  made  for  him,  and  not 
for  the  worldling — not  for  the  man  who  is  debaseil 
and  debauched  by  it,  and  wlio  abuses  its  enjo^^- 
ments,  to  shame  and  sin.  All  nature  is  meant  to 
minister  to  the  child  of  God.  These  laws  of  the 
physical  world  are  bidden  to  subserve  his  highest 
interest.  The  stars  hold  on  their  courses,  and  the 
seasons  run  their  round  for  him,  and  the  whole 
cosmos  is  a  wondrous  mechanism,  in  Avhich  all 
things  are  so  consti'ucted  as  to  co-work  for  him — 
all  the  forces  and  appliances  working  together  for 
his  good.  The  man  who  claims  the  world  as  his 
own,  and  is  bent  on  enjoying  it  in  defiance  of  God, 
lives  only  by  suff'erance,  and  as  a  child  of  pleasure, 
he  is  dead  while  he  liveth. 

And  then  again,  the  2corId  is  the  Christian's,  in 
its  highest  idea;  to  get  all  the  benefit  of  it,  Avithout 
the  mischief  and  the  curse.  He  is  master  of  it  and 
not  slave  to  it.     Have  you  thought  that  the  world 


6  THE  christian's  heritagi 

is  just  that  which  the  Christian  gives  vp^  relin- 
quisJies,  foregoes,  by  his  Christian  vocation  ?  that 
this  whole  domain  of  earthly  pleasure  is  that  which 
he  forswears  and  denies  himself?  And  that  liere 
is  the  weight  that  is  to  be  cast  into  the  scale, 
when  you  weigh  over  against  all  this,  his  treasures 
in  the  sides?  This  is  the  view  of  some.  And  so, 
many  an  uninitiated  one,  regrets,  sometimes,  that 
he  must  forfeit  so  much  to  be  a  Christian — and 
wishes  he  could  consistently  carry  into  the  Chris- 
tian life  certain  worldly  pleasures  that  he  is  expect- 
ed to  resign.  Is  this  the  true  idea?  Nay.  The 
Christian  has  discovered  what  is  the  higher  domain 
of  pleasure  to  be  enjoyed  in  the  Avorld  where  its 
poisons  are  not  tasted,  but  only  its  true  delights — 
where  its  temptations  are  mastered,  and  only  its 
pure,  solid  and  lasting  benefits  are  enjoyed — where 
the  higher  taste  excludes  the  low,  debasing  grat- 
ifications, and  finds  a  sphere  for  the  purer  appe- 
tites, and  a  range  for  the  nobler  desires.  These 
use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it. 

Blessed  are  the  meek  (says  Jesus),  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth.  The  Christian  grace  of  meekness 
that  is  moderate  in  its  desire  and  that  enters  into 
the  joy  of  others  as  if  it  were  its  own,  making  it 
its  own — this  is  a  beatitude.  Blessed  such  are  and 
must  be.  Hai^piimss  must  have  its  sources  within 
the  soul.  And  anywhere  outside  the  stream  can 
rise  only  to  this  level  of  the  fountain  within.  So 
says  the  Psalmist,  "The  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth, 
and  shall  delight  themselves  in  the  abundance  of 
peace.''     And  that  is  a  kind  and  quality  of  abun- 


THE    CHRISTIANS    HHRITAGE.  7 

dance,  which  is  more  than  abundance  of  treasure 
or  of  worklly  estates — the  abundance  of  peace.  It 
is  not  what  a  man  can  show  his  legal  claims  and 
titles  for.  It  is  rather  what  he  ve?\\\Y  possesses  and 
enjoys  as  part  of  himself,  Avhicli  makes  him  an 
oivner.  And  what  he  has  locked  up  securely  in 
his  breast,  he  possesses  and  oicns  in  the  highest 
possible  sense,  as  the  key  to  all  true  enjoyment. 

I  ask  you  what  a  man  is  icortli.  And  you  say 
so  many  dollars,  as  if  gold  Avere  the  standard  of 
ivorth.  When  you  speak  of  a  man^  you  know,  if 
you  think  a  moment,  that  his  real  worth  consists 
of  principile — not  money  principle,  but  moral  prin- 
ciple. Gold  is  worth  only  what  it  will  purchase 
for  you.  You  can't  eat  it.  You  can't  make  a  bed 
or  pillow  of  it.  You  get  the  good  of  it  only  when 
you  part  with  it  for  something  else.  And  gold  will 
not  buy  happiness.  For  happiness  is  not  a  mer- 
cantile commodity.  The  noble  vessel  that  ploughs 
through  the  ocean,  and  rides  upon  the  wave,  and 
makes  even  its  currents  a  propelling  power  for  the 
passage  across,  that  is  the  vessel  to  which  the  ocean 
belongs,  and  not  that  other  vessel  that  has  the  sea 
come  up  over  its  bulwarks,  and  rush  in  at  the 
cabin  doors,  and  fill  it,  and  drown  it  to  the  depths. 

But  the  third  item  in  this  inventory  of  the  Chris- 
tian's estate,  is.  Life.  Understand  it.  Life  is  the 
heritage  of  the  Christian.  There  is  a  mere  phj^si- 
cal  life  which  we  have  in  common  with  the  brows- 
ing herd.  And  life,  to  the  multitude,  is  the  mere 
hrute  being.  x4nd  the  highest  idea  of  life,  with 
such,  is  to  enjoy  all  the  physical  functions,  and 


8  THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  * 

to  gratify  all  the  appetites,  and  to  regale  all  the 
senses  to  the  full.  But  this  is  not  life^  as  a  man  is 
made  to  enjoy  it,  in  its  higher  qualities,  and  for  its 
nobler  ends.  This  is  life  every  way  narrowed  and 
hampered  in  its  sphere  of  pleasure  by  the  poisons 
of  sin,  and  it  is  life,  sadly,  awfully  bounded  and 
cut  short  by  death.  But  the  Christian,  by  his  very 
principle  of  living,  has  life  as  a  noble  heritage. 
And  it  is  life  in  all  the  most  exalted  and  harmoni- 
ous play  of  the  mental  and  moral  powers. 

This  is  not  arbitrary.  Could  you  even  say  that 
a  wild  Indian,  ranging  over  the  fields  for  his  game 
and  living  as  a  happy  child  of  nature,  could  have 
life  in  any  such  high  sense  as  the  man  of  culti- 
vated intellect,  and  of  refined  taste,  and  of  spir- 
itual perceptions  ?  No  !  Here  is  the  secret.  The 
Christian  life,  that  is  "hid  with  Christ  in  God" — • 
that  enters  into  the  very  enjoyment  of  God,  that 
lives  in  sympathy  with  God's  work,  that  spans 
the  gulf  between  the  eternities,  and  already  en- 
ters into  God's  rest,  and  partakes  of  the  divine 
nature — already  lives  beyond  the  grave,  already 
sets  the  affections  upon  the  things  where  Christ 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God;  this  Christian 
life  is  the  highest  style  of  life,  has  all  the  elements 
and  conditions  of  pure,  happy,  useful,  blessed  liv- 
ing. Only  such  a  man  knows  what  it  is  to  live — 
to  live  close  beside  the  fountain  of  life — where  new 
draughts  of  life  can  be  partaken  in  ever  fresh  sup- 
plies— and  where  the  life  itself  is  life  and  light  also 
— the  life,  the  light  of  men — not  ignorant  grovel- 
ling life,  that  merely  vegetates,  but  life  elevated, 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  9 

illuminated,  and  in  affinity  with  God.  Do  they 
own  lite,  who  claim  the  passing  enjoyment  as  life's 
great  end  ?  They  Avhose  life  is  a  life  of  fashion,  a 
life  of  sport,  a  life  of  gaiety  and  indulgence — a  life 
of  worldliness  and  vanity,  and  sin  and  shame?  Is 
that  life?  And  are  they  life's  owners?  If  it  were 
even  a  life  as  sinless  as  tluit  of  the  butterfly,  would 
it  be  Life,  as  that  of  the  saint^  who  lives  to  God, 
and  goes  to  live  like  a  seraph,  in  the  presence  and 
blessedness  of  God  forever  ? 

And  seeing  tliat  the  Christian  possesses  life  in 
its  highest  quality,  has  he  not  also  the  clue  to 
life's  secrets,  and  the  key  to  life's  richest  stores? 

Take  the  multitude,  and  so  many  have  high 
physical  life,  and  have  ample  means  to  make  Ufe 
happy ^  but  mistake  the  idea  of  happiness;  are  try- 
ing to  get  life's  full  benefit  by  luealth  hoarded^ 
when  the  true  happiness  is  in  active  charities,  and 
in  wealth  liberally  dispensed.  Some  will  be  lib- 
eral only  when  they  die,  so  they  deny  themselves 
the  happiness  of  living  as  God  has  planned  it  for 
them,  and  proposed  it  to  them,  in  vain. 

But  take  the  man  Avhose  life  daily  duplicates 
itself  by  sharing  what  he  has  with  others — who 
enters  into  sympathy  with  Christ's  Avork  on  earth, 
and  so  becomes  a  Saviour  also  in  his  humble 
sphere ;  that  man  has  discovered  the  true  life, 
that  is  "hid  with  Christ  in  God";  that  man  has 
found  the  true  luxury  of  living;  there  is  somewhat 
in  that  life,  that  is  divine-human,  and  godly,  and 
Christ-like;  and  such  a  life  is  angelic  in  its  affinity 
wdth  the  better  world.     It  is  the  life  of  God  in  the 


10  THE    christian's    HERITAGE. 

soul  of  man  I  And  to  live  such  a  noble,  unselfish, 
happy  life,  belongs  to  the  Christian,  as  it  does  not 
to  any  other.  "  He  most  lives,  who  thinks  most, 
feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best."  And  life  to  the 
Christian,  is  just  a  scene  of  divine  and  angelic 
ministries  on  his  behalf  'Tis  just  his  daily  train- 
ing for  glory.  It  is  not  an  end^  but  a  means  to  an 
end.  It  takes  liold  already  upon  heaven,  which  is 
only  the  life  beyond. 

I  said  to  an  aged  Christian  lad}^,  as  she  came 
out  from  the  bedside  of  a  dying  friend,  "  ]\Iy  dear 
madam,  you  too  have  come  near  the  end,  and  must 
soon  die  also."  "Ah!"  said  she,  with  beaming 
face,  "  ah,  I  shall  then  only  just  hegin  to  live ! " 
All  providential  dealings  are  the  believer's  for 
eternal  blessedness,  and  life  is  his  in  the  highest 
sense,  because  interpreted  and  used  aright.  It  is 
the  unfolding  of  the  divine  counsels  of  grace  and 
love  towards  him,  in  his  pupilage  for  the  skies. 
And  all  that  life  can  yield  of  experience  in  divine 
things,  of  rich  discovery  of  God's  truth  and  cove- 
nant, and  of  preparedness  for  the  life  beyond,  is 
his.  And  this  is  the  highest  glory  of  the  present 
life,  which  only  the  Christian  man  can  possess. 

But  the  Christian's  estate  stretches  even  farther 
than  this.  It  is  not  more  true  that  the  ivorld  and 
life  are  his,  than  that  death  is  his  also.  This  is 
an  item  that  lies  beyond  our  common  sphere  of 
knowledge.  We  see  the  outward  phenomena  of 
death,  in  which  it  is  common  to  all.  And  the 
Christian  is  not,  in  any  such  sense,  the  owner  of 
death,  as  to  control  his  movements,  or  to  escape 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  11 

his  summons.  And  yet,  tlioiigh  he  must,  bow  his 
head  as  low  as  any  in  the  grave,  death  belongs  to 
him,  as  it  does  not  to  any  other.  Other  men  indeed 
belong  to  deaili.  They  are  death's  victims,  death's 
prey.  Death  has  all  his  terrific  power  over  them, 
holding  them  in  bondage  here,  by  the  fear  of  his 
blow,  and  holding  them  in  eternal  bondage  iiere- 
after,  under  the  second  death.  Sometimes  it  is  a 
living  death  they  live,  and  then  death  gets  so 
much  the  mastery,  that  they  fall  prematurely  un- 
der his  power. 

But  death  is  yovu'S,  my  Christian  brother,  in  the 
sense  that  all  its  circumstances  are  arranged  for 
your  best  interest.  It  Avill  come  only  as  it  is  sent 
to  bless  you — only  as  it  comes  to  consummate  God's 
covenant  blessing  in  your  case.  Just  at  what  mo- 
ment, in  Avhat  maimer,  on  what  spot,  hy  what  dis- 
ease or  so-called  casualty — -just  Avith  what  processes 
ol  wasting  or  not,  all  as  particularly  adjusted  to 
your  case,  as  light  is  adjusted  to  the  eye,  or  sound 
to  the  ear,  to  produce  the  most  vivid  impression, 
or  the  most  exquisite  harmony,  so  death  shall  come 
ministering  to  you.  And  so  it  shall  be  to  you,  the 
Son  of  Mans  coming  to  fold  you  in  his  arms,  while 
death  only  wraps  his  dai'k  mantle  over  you  for  the 
passage. 

God  makes  no  mistakes.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  accident,  or  casualty,  or  fatality  Avith  him.  None 
whatever  !  Just  Avhen  your  seat  is  ready  at  the 
table  the  bell  will  ring,  and  the  messenger  Avill 
come  to  conduct  you  in.  Just  when  your  partic- 
ular mansion  in  the  Father's  house  is  entirely  pre- 


12  THE    christian's    HERITAGE. 

pared — when  the  last  picture  is  hung  on  the  wall, 
and  the  last  item  of  farniture  is  in  its  place — then 
you  shall  be  bidden  to  enter  in,  and  take  posses- 
sion. Some  of  the  pictures  are  painting  now,  from 
these  life  scenes,  not  yet  finished.  The  map  of  the 
way  in  which  God  has  led  you  is  not  yet  com- 
pleted. Some  of  the  furniture  must  be  transferred 
from  these  earthly  mansions,  and  some  of  the  arti- 
cles are  carving  now,  with  your  own  fingers. 

Look  at  that  Lazarus  at  the  gate  of  Dives.  Men 
see  the  gasping  beggar.  And  they  see  the  dogs. 
But  they  do  not  see  the  angels,  who  are  there  to 
escort  him  to  Abraham's  bosom.  Men  call  it  death. 
The  angels  call  it  life.  Death  is  Ms;  the  property 
of  that  beggar, — belongs  to  him — does  him  dis- 
tinguished service.  The  c?ea^/i-angel  holds  out  the 
signal  to  the  angels  of  light,  and  they  come  witli 
torches  for  the  dark  valley,  and  bear  away  the 
heavenly  guest  to  glory. 

But  look  at  Dives.  He  belongs  to  death.  What 
are  all  the  purple,  and  fine  linen,  and  sumptuous 
fare?  What  a  record!  "The  rich  man  also  died 
and  was  buried."  No  escort  of  angels,  no  Abra- 
ham's bosom.  Carry  out  the  corpse.  Bury  him  in 
his  splendid  tomb.  His  riches  should  have  made 
a  friend  of  that  Lazarus  to  welcome  him  to  the 
everlasting  habitations.  But  no !  He  left  Laza- 
rus to  the  dogs.  And  he  goes  now  to  his  own 
place,  where  not  even  the  dogs  can  minister  to 
him.  All  the  pomp  of  a  princely  funeral  is  his — 
to  cover  death's  doings — to  divert  men's  attention 
from  the  dark  under-world^  where  he  is  lifting  up 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  13 

his  eyes  in  torment.  He  could  have  no  control  of 
death's  terror — could  get  no  single  service  from  the 
monster — could  not  buy  any  alleviation  of  death's 
bitterness  and  sting,  with  all  his  wealth.  He  must 
go  down  to  the  grave,  unguarded  and  un helped, 
and  down  to  the  abyss  of  despair,  unsaved!  He 
is  death's  victim — death's  prey.  He  has  no  friend 
and  helper,  to  go  down  with  him  to  the  dark  val- 
ley, and  across  the  deep  river.  None.  No  Jesus 
"  wlio  hath  abolished  death  "  for  him.     None  ! 

But  you,  my  Christian  brother,  as  surely  as  you 
are  a  Christian,  are  not  a  subject  of  death's  dark 
empire.  You  caii  plead  your  heavenly  citizenship. 
You  can  say  to  the  death-angel,  "  I  am  a  Christian 
citizen  and  free  born  by  virtue  of  relationship  to 
Christ."  You  can  claim  exemption  from  the  bond- 
age of  death.  He  can  not  impress  you  into  his 
ranks.  You  are  a  free  man  of  Christ  Jesus.  You 
can  not  be  holden  of  death,  for  you  belong  to  one 
who  has  met  death,  and  vanquished  death,  and  has 
the  keys  of  death's  dark  palaces,  and  can  open  his 
dungeons,  and  break  his  sceptre,  at  His  will. 

"One  moment  here,  so  low,  so  agonized, 
And  </ie>i— beyond  the  stars." 

Need  I  say  more!  Is  not  this  enough  for  any 
man's  heritage?  Does  it  not  cover  all  possible 
interests?  If  other  words  were  needful,  or  could 
add  any  thing  to  these  large  items — if  you  could 
ever  be  in  circumstances  to  despond,  or  distrust, 
after  all  these  large  assurances — then  hear  the 
apostle:  "Thhigs  present,  and  things  to  come,"  are 


14  THE    christian's    HERITAGE. 

yours  I  All !  I  know.  It  is  these  surroundings  of 
the  hour.  It  is  this  present  struggle  and  conflict. 
Or  this  passing  cloud  of  affliction — or  this  thun- 
der clap  which  has  just  burst  over  our  heads.  It 
is  this  particular  strait  of  to-day — it  is  this  burden 
— it  is  these  tears — it  is  this  heart-ache — which  sets 
aside  all  large  generalities,  and  makes  us  beg  for 
some  assurance,  that  will  reach  down  to  our  pres- 
ent case. 

f  My  Christian  brother !  Things  present  are  yours ! 
No  matter  what  they  are.  Not  merely  the  past, 
which   has    been   conquered — with   all   its   strong 

:  temptations  and  gloomy  fears,  and  fiery  trials; 
but  this  present — these  very  things  that  concern 
you  so  much  to-day — these  vexations — these  dis- 
appointments— these  bereavements — these  contin- 
gencies— these  mysteries  of  Providence,  Avhich  you 
would  so  like  to  have  interpreted — they  are  all 
yours!  You  are  master  of  the  situation,  if  you 
knew  the  facts.     They  are  working  together,  and 

,  co-working,  with  all  other  things,  for  your  good. 

[  And,  what  is  yet  more  amazing,  "  Things  to 
come "  are  yours !  All  that  undiscovered,  unre- 
vealed  future,  with  all  its  events — its  hopes  and 
fears — its  smiles  and  tears — all  its  tidings  of  joy 
and  sorrow — all  its  new  friendships  and  its  broken 
ties — all  its  dreams,  and  its  realities,  as  they  open 
upon  you,  like  an  Apocalypse,  day  by  day.  They 
are  all  yours.  And  nothing  can  eventuate,  that  is 
not  in  your  interest.  The  future  is  yours.  The 
unfoldings  of  to-morroAv  will  be  sure  to  pour  into 
your  bosom  the  materials  for  Christian  joy,  it'  you 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  15 

rightly  read  and  receive  them.  Be  the  day  dark 
or  bright — come  sunshine  or  come  storm;  just 
where  you  are  so  fearfal — just  Avhere  you  are  en- 
tering with  a  shudder  into  tlie  cloud — there  the 
voice  out  of  the  cloud  tells  you  it  is  Jesus!  And 
it  is  like  the  cloud  of  the  Visible  Presence,  that 
hung  over  the  Mercy-seat,  in  the  holiest  of  all — 
it  is  the  cloud  of  tlie  divine  glory. 

Yes!  you  may  look  down  the  vista  of  futurity, 
where  men's  hearts  fail  them  for  fear  of  all  that  is 
coming  on.  You  may  even  see  the  storm-cloud 
gathering  thick  and  heavy  in  your  horizon.  You 
may  have  dreary  presage  of  troubles,  losses,  sick- 
nesses. You  may  shudder  to  have  the  veil  lifted, 
that  hides  the  things  to  come.  And  yet,  you  mayf: 
look  into  the  face  all  the  reverse  and  distress  and(''; 
death  agony,  that  you  know  must  sometime  hap-  ■ 
pen,  and  here  is  the  assurance.  Things  to  come  are  ' 
all  yours!  All  your  future  is  compassed  by  God's 
covenant  of  love.  Every  cloud  is  bright  to  you 
from  your  upper  side  position.  No  good  thing 
shall  he  withhold  from  you.  No  one  shall  harm 
you.  No  one  shall  pluck  you  out  of  his  hands. 
Angels  shall  camp  around  your  dwelling,  and  shall 
bear  you  up  in  their  arms,  lest  you  dash  your  foot 
against  a  stone!  Your  track  is  already  laid,  to 
where  it  opens  into  the  heavenly  paradise.  The 
ladder  from  your  stony  pillow  has  its  top  in  glory, 
and  has  the  angels  traversing  it  meanwhile,  in 
ministries  of  love  to  you.  -^ 

And  all  tJnngs  are  yoiu's!    There  is  nothing  which 
is  not  yours. 


16  THE    christian's    HERITAGE. 

"If  thou  hast  wherewithal  to  spice  a  draught  when  griefs  pre- 
vail, 
And  for  the  future  time  art  heir  to  the  Isle  of  Spices, 
Is  it  not  fair?  " 

Your  afflictions  are  burdens,  just  as  the  bird's 
wings  are  burdens  on  his  back  by  which  he  may 
soar  to  the  skies, — -just  as  buoys  are  burdens  to  the 
wreck  to  float  it  to  the  surface — just  as  the  Kfe- 
preserver  is  a  burden  bound  fast  to  a  man  to  keep 
him  from  sinking  in  the  sea.  This  darkness  is  but 
the  shadow  of  His  wing.  Beyond  all  peradventure 
— far  beyond  all  possible  contingency — by  His 
word  of  power  and  grace,  who  rules  the  universe — 
by  his  covenant  and  oath,  who  can  never  fail, 
the  universe  is  yours!  Poor  sinner  that  you  are, 
—  deserving  only  of  perdition, — once  under  the 
awful  doom  of  everlasting  death,  having  nothing 
to-day  in  your  own  right,  but  sin  and  shame — even 
you,  without  reserve  or  qualification,  may  look  out 
upon  the  vast  domain  of  creation,  providence  and 
redemption,  and  there  is  nothing  in  it  all,  but  you 
can  claim  as  your  own,  in  Christ  Jesus.  You  are 
infinitely  richer  than  you  had  thought.  Up !  out 
of  your  tears,  and  darkness,  and  ashes — thou  child 
of  poverty — child  of  sorrow.  All  things  are  yours. 
You  are  a  king  and  a  prince  unto  God.  These 
doubts,  this  darkness,  ill  become  one  of  such 
princely  birth  and  of  such  vast  possessions.  Live 
in  some  manner  becoming  your  high  rank,  and 
splendid  heritage.  Paul — Apollos  —  Cephas  —  all 
God's  ministers  in  all  the  church.  The  world, 
with  all  its  interests.     Zr?/e,  with  all  its  truest  joys 


THE    christian's    HERITAGE.  17 

Death,  with  all  its  sternest  realities.  Tilings  pres- 
ent, as  you  feel  them  pressing  with  all  their  weight 
upon  you,  and  things  to  come,  as  you  dread  to  con- 
front them.  All  are  yours.  Perfumes  of  paradise 
around  the  broken  vases  of  earthly  delights — and 
death  itself  only  the  bursting  of  the  shell  for  the 
springing  forth  of  the  soul,  to  the  new  and  higher 
life  in  glory ! 

And  now,  all  that  is  asked  of  you,  is  that  you 
enter  fully  upon  your  estate  and  enjoy  its  splen- 
did benefits.  Walk  worthily  of  this  high  voca- 
tion wherewith  you  are  called.  "For  all  tilings 
are  yours!  Paul,  Apollos,  Cephas,  the  world,  life, 
death,  things  present — things  to  come !  All  are 
yours."  Is  there  any  thing  higher,  and  more  assur- 
ing? "And  ye  are  Christ's."  Can  there  be  any 
thing  higher,  that  shall  link  you  fast  to  the  very 
throne,  and  the  very  Person  of  the  Almighty? 
''And  Christ  is  GocTsr 


II. 

LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

"For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it;  but  whosoever 
shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  the  same  shall  save 
it." — Mark  viii.  35. 

To  find  ones  life,  so  as  to  discover  the  secret  of 
happy  and  successful  living — this  is  the  great,  high 
problem  among  men.  Many  a  man  spends  his  life- 
time in  vain  queries  about  life, — how  he  shall  best 
enjoy  it, — or  best  employ  it  to  earthly  gains, — or 
best  accomplish  the  true  end  of  living.  Many  a 
man  is  all  his  life  long  finding  out  where  to  live 
and  how  to  live,  so  as  to  have  the  best  climate,  or 
the  most  comforts,  or  the  choicest  friends,  or  the 
greenest  old  age.  If  one  could  only  know  life's 
secret  at  the  outstart,  and  act  accordingly,  then, 
indeed,  such  an  one  would  seize  upon  the  very 
ideal  living,  and  would  exhibit  a  life  beautiful  and 
blessed,  with  all  the  symmetry  of  a  well-fashioned 
character  and  experience. 

To  understand  this  momentous  sentence,  you 
must  read  the  text  in  its  connection.  The  same 
Jesus  had  just  said,  "Whosoever  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it."  And  the  plain  meaning  is,  that  who- 
ever is  set  upon  getting  out  of  his  life  the  most  of 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  19 

selfish  ease  and  indulgence,  and  mere  self-grati- 
fication, shall  be  woefully  disappointed,  and  shall 
come  to  utter  loss  of  all  life's  proper  good. 

A  young  man  says,  "I  will  live  for  myself  I 
will  lose  no  opportunity  to  make  money.  I  will 
rise  early  and  sit  up  late.  I  will  toil  on,  day  and 
night,  for  wealth.  I  will  have  my  large  posses- 
sions— adding  house  to  house,  and  field  to  field. 
I  will  get  gain  from  the  rich  and  gain  from  the 
poor, —  by  honest  industry;  and  if  need  be,  by 
dishonest  exaction.  I  will  subsidize  the  labor  of 
the  workman,  and  the  skill  of  the  mechanic,  and 
nothing  shall  escape  my  eye  that  can  add  a  far- 
thing to  my  increase.  I  will  hold  my  gains  with 
a  rigid  grasp.  Others  may  give  to  the  needy,  and 
help  forward  the  great  schemes  of  beneficence,  but 
not  I.  I  will  have  my  splendid  mansion  and  my 
costly  equipage,  servants  and  dependents  at  every 
turn.  I  will  be  master  and  owner  of  whatever  can 
add  to  human  pleasure  or  ambition."  How  often 
such  a  greed  overdoes  itself!  The  man  fails  in 
getting  what  he  so  passionately  craves.  Or  he 
fails  as  likely  in  getting  this,  and  losing  all  beside, 
■ — in  getting  w^ealth  and  losing  health, — getting 
goods  and  losing  God.  Nay  he  fails  by  getting  a 
surfeit  and  losing  the  appetite.  "  For  the  world 
passeth  aAvay  and  the  lust  thereof"  He  shall  lose 
his  life  by  the  very  eagerness  of  the  grasp  with 
which  he  seeks  to  gain  it,  to  mere  selfish  ends. 
Just  as  you  sometimes  see  the  drowning  man,  in 
the  very  convulsive  struggle  for  life,  seize  his  res- 
cuer by  the  throat,  and  disable  him  and  himself 


20  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

also,  SO  that  they  sink  together.  Mere  selfishness, 
as  we  daily  see  it,  defeats  itself.  Overreaching  in 
business  oftenest  overreaches  itself  Greed  of  gain 
will  sometimes  perish  by  satiety, — will  stuff  its 
morbid  maw,  so  as  to  destroy  itself  by  the  over- 
load. Just  as  any  physical  self-indulgence  con- 
stantly works  disgust  with  the  indulgence  itself, 
and,  by  its  more  repeated  gratification,  breaks  the 
appetite,  and  so  loses  tlie  power  to  enjoy  itself 

Such  paradoxes  are  deeply  rooted  in  the  con- 
stitution and  course  of  nature.  This  is  nothing 
arbitrary  with  God.  True  religion  has  its  divine 
sources  deeply  welling  up  within  the  soul.  And 
it  is  no  vain  promise.  It  is  even,  in  part,  the 
working  of  a  natural  principle,  that  is  announced 
by  Jesus  in  the  text.  "Whosoever  shall  lose  his 
life,  for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  the  same  shall 
save  it." 

We  are  then  to  save  life  by  losing  it?  Yes!  This 
is  the  divine  problem.  And  this  is  not  so  paradox- 
ical as  might  seem.  We  know  how  one  may  often 
save  time  by  losing  it, — save  a  day  by  losing  an 
hour.  We  know  how  we  often  gain  by  giving, — 
even  gain  money  by  giving  it  away, — gain  friend- 
ships by  giving  out  our  friendships  to  others.  And 
how,  as  it  is  with  the  farmer,  that  by  throwing 
away  some  of  his  last  year's  crop  into  the  furrow, 
he  gains  a  harvest  of  an  hundred  fold.  So  it  is 
everywhere,  that  we  must  lose  somewhat  in  order 
to  gain  more.  Somewhat  of  time, — of  energy, — of 
capital  must  be  sacrificed  in  order  to  reap  a  return 
of  kindred  benefits. 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  21 

So  it  is  with  even  the  Gospel  benefits,  that 
though  they  are  free  and  can  not  be  bought  in 
the  sense  of  being  bargained  for,  they  must  never- 
theless be  bought,  in  the  sense  of  parting  with 
something  for  their  possession.  "Buy  wine  and 
milk,  without  money  and  without  price."  And  so 
indeed,  we  solve  that  profound  mystery  of  Christ's 
teaching, — that  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  it 
is  to  receive, — not  as  if  it  were  all  giving,  and  no 
receiving.  But  because  the  blessedness  is  in  kind, 
— in  actual  receiving  a  return  of  the  giviiuj — good 
measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and  run- 
ning over,  of  gifts  into  the  lap  and  bosom. 

And  herein,  too,  lies  the  philosophy  of  this  con- 
structive suicide, — this  losing  one's  life  by  saving 
it, — that  when  one  narrows  his  aims  and  enjoy- 
ments within  the  sphere  of  his  own  mere  self, — 
excluding  all  other  aims,  and  all  share  in  others' 
well-being — that  is  just  such  a  stagnation  of  soul 
as  inevitably  dries  up  the  better  nature  and  de- 
stroys the  better  self  The  fountain  that  overflows 
and.  brims  over  with  its  fulness  is  the  fountain 
that  keeps  fresh  with  its  living  waters.  And  this 
is  the  place  where  we  choose  to  drink  rather  than 
from  any  stagnant  pool.  The  announcement  of 
the  text  is  this — that  living  for  Christ  and  the  Gos- 
pel, so  as  to  forget  self, — so  as  to  subordinate  sel- 
fish aims  and  pursuits, — so  as  to  lose  one's  self  in 
this  higher  living,  is  the  true  secret  of  hfe, — of  liv- 
ing to  purpose — and  of  that  higher  style  of  life, 
which  realizes  life's  greatest  and  best  end.  It  is  a 
fii'st  principle  in  this  whole  matter,  that  happiness 


22  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

is  not  found  by  seeking  it  as  an  end.  Nothing 
is  truer,  in  all  experience,  than  that  the  pleasure- 
seeker  is  the  pleasure-loser — eaten  up  with  greed 
of  pleasure — devoured  by  the  appetite  of  indul- 
gence. "  She  that  liveth  in  pleasure,  is  dead  while 
she  liveth."  And  a  true  happiness  comes  from 
having  true  objects  of  pursuit  and  true  tastes  for 
gratification. 

It  is  in  view  of  this  fundamental  constitutional 
fact,  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Prince  of  Life,  proposes 
himself  as  the  personal  object  of  life,  and  his  Gos- 
pel as  the  proper  interest  to  be  cherished  in  all  our 
living;  and  that  he  who  will  most  lose  his  life  in 
this  direction  shall  most  truly  and  effectually  save 
it  unto  life  eternal. 

Considering  that  it  is  hard  to  persuade  men  of 
this  seeming  contradiction, — we  must  clearly  un- 
derstand what  this  losing  one's  life  for  Christ  and 
his  Gospel  means.  We  know  something  of  what  it 
means  when  one  loses  his  life  for  a  friend,  by  ac- 
tually dying  to  save  another — as  when  one  plunges 
into  the  wave,  and  drowns  in  the  effort  to  rescue 
a  sinking  fellow, — or  as  when  one  rushes  into  the 
burning  chamber  and  is  consumed  in  the  attempt 
to  save  another, — or  as  when  one  steps  in  and  takes 
the  deadly  blow  that  is  levelled  against  a  bosom 
friend.  We  know  how  love  sometimes  flames  into 
such  an  all-absorbing  passion,  as  actually  revels 
in  such  self-sacrifice — and  cheerfully  yields  up  life 
itself,  even  in  the  fruitless  endeavor  to  save  one 
best  beloved — wife,  mother,  sister,  child. 

But  the  losing  of  life  contemplated  in  tlie  text 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  23 

is  not  necessarily  this,  though  this  may  also  be 
included  in  it.  It  is  rather  the  spirit  which  may 
sometimes  so  express  itself,  and  which  stands  ready 
for  this  actual  yielding  up  of  life  at  the  instant, 
if  need  be.  It  is  no  falling  iinder  the  wheels  of  any 
Juggernaut.  But  as  it  lies  within  reach  of  all,  it 
is  rather  the  daily  cross-bearing  and  self-denial, 
the  self-abnegation  and  self-sacrifice,  that  willingly 
loses  sight  of  self  in  the  Master,  and  in  the  absorb- 
ing aim  to  serve  his  Gospel  cause. 

Take  it,  as  it  appears  in  the  burning  zeal  of 
a  true  missionary  who  says,  I  will  live  for  Christ. 
I  will  quit  my  home,  my  friends,  my  comforts,  and 
go  out  far  away  amongst  strangers,  amongst  sav- 
ages. I  will  give  up  the  joy  of  these  refinements 
and  indulgences  that  belong  to  civilized  society, 
and  I  will  spend  my  days  in  telling  of  Christ  to 
the  pagan,  and  in  lighting  up  his  darkened  soid 
with  this  religion  of  Christ,  and  in  cheering  the 
home  of  the  barbarian  with  this  Gospel  of  Jesus. 
I  will  forget  my  country — forget  my  church  priv- 
ileges— forget  my  own  home  pleasures.  I  will  for- 
get the  joy  of  greeting  beloved  friends  of  my  child- 
hood and  youth,  and  I  will  be  an  exile  from  all 
these  things  for  Jesus,  and  for  the  joy  of  giving 
this  religion  to  the  destitute.  Say,  then,  is  such 
a  life  lost,  or  found  ? 

Lost  lives  are  everywhere  around  us.  Faculties 
prostituted,  energies  misdirected,  souls  wrecked. 
But  not  here.  Jesus  Christ  himself  was  a  man 
of  joys,  as  well  as  of  sorrows;  nay  of  joys  springing 
out  of  his  soiTows ;  finding  his  earthly  life  in  losing 


24  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

it,  never  disappointed,  never  foiled  in  his  purpose, 
never  daunted  nor  overcome,  even  in  Gethsemane 
or  on  the  cross,  always  rising  up  from  under  every 
crushing  weight,  and  singing  at  the  last,  not  in 
despair,  but  in  triumph,  '■''It  is  finisliecV 

And  there  are  men  of  such  a  stamp  and  style, 
whose  record  is  in  history,  as  the  Christian  men  of 
the  race — missionaries  like  Mills  and  Brainard  and 
Williams  of  Erromanga,  the  American  martyrs  of 
India,  and  men  at  home  who  delight  to  give  to 
Christ  and  his  Gospel  all  their  means,  and  poor 
widows  who  give  him  all  their  living.  And  there 
are  yet  tender  spirits  like  Harriet  Newell,  who 
sanctified  womanhood  in  the  service  of  Christ  and 
his  Gospel  for  a  perishing  race. 

Can  we  not  plainly  see  how  the  missionary  in 
Christ's  footsteps  may  abound  in  joys  that  spring 
out  of  his  privations, — hoAv  such  an  one  may  find 
Ms  life^  in  finding  a  vocation  so  noble,  and  an  aim 
so  genial  and  spiritual ;  how  it  may  even  be  a  daily 
charm  and  rapture  to  be  so  set  on  the  highest  ends 
of  living — and  so  absorbed  in  what  is  true  and  lov- 
ing and  good?  Can  we  not  see  how  such  an  one 
enters  upon  a  daily  culture  of  the  best  tastes,  and 
throws  off  a  thousand  cramping,  crippling  con- 
straints of  a  mere  conventional  and  false  living, 
for  the  honest,  pure,  and  peaceful  cultivation  of 
things  pertaining  to  the  soul  ?  Men  may  not  un- 
derstand it.  But  such  a  finding  of  missionary  life 
is  often  a  finding  of  life  as  a  discovery;  as  where 
one  has  found  lost  health,  or  a  lost  home,  or  a  lost 
friend,  or  a  lost  treasure.     And  take  any  man  of 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  25 

a  true  Gospeliziiig  spirit,  at  home  or  abroad,  who 
says,  "I  will  live  for  Christ  and  not  for  self — for 
Christ  even  more  than  for  parents,  or  wife,  or 
children."  We  know  what  it  is  to  forget  self  for 
the  darlings  of  the  household.  And  this  is  a  joy  ! 
This  is  a  pure  pleasure !  The  very  aim  to  gladden 
the  home  circle  with  gifts  or  with  new  additions 
to  their  comfort, — this  becomes  an  element  of  real 
happiness,  in  the  cup  of  daily  toil  and  privation, 
and  makes  even  the  most  exhausting,  wasting 
work  minister  to  the  soul's  refreshment. 

But  this  person  of  Jesus,  and  this  cause  of  his 
Gospel,  is  an  object  of  living  still  higher,  purer, 
better.  It  does  not  exclude  the  home  objects.  It 
only  sanctifies  all  that  sweet,  domestic  affection, 
and  absorbs  it  in  the  nobler  zeal  of  doing  all 
things  at  home  or  abroad,  for  Christ  and  his  cause. 
The  man  says,  "  I  will  aim  to  serve  Christ  in  every 
thing — in  business,  working  for  Christ, — in  society, 
speaking  and  acting  for  Christ, — in  the  hon:ie  circle, 
living  for  Christ — keeping  eye  upon  his  example — 
studying  his  pleasm-e — aiming  to  promote  his  cause 
in  doors,  and  out  of  doors — and  subordinating  self, 
selfish  ease,  and  selfish  emolument  to  the  pro- 
moting of  his  Gospel.  To  this  end,  in  the  thou- 
sand channels  of  active  work  and  influence,  I  will 
seek  to  be  sanctified  wholly — to  have  my  business 
calling  sanctified,  and  my  plans,  and  aims,  and 
calculations  sanctified.  I  will  deny  myself.  I  will 
forego  a  personal  gratification,  if  so  be,  I  may  ad- 
vance his  cause.  I  will  spare  from  my  personal 
expenses  to   give   to   his   treasury,   and    that   not 


26  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

merely  on  a  rare  occasion,  but  as  I  have  oppor- 
tunity,— and  not  merely  so  far  as  is  convenient, 
but  where  it  is  inconvenient^  and  even  damaging 
to  my  ease,  and  to  my  estate.  I  will  take  up  my 
cross  daily  and  follow  Christ, — as  a  cross-bearing 
disciple, — not  found  without  my  cross — subordi- 
nating self  to  the  Master — having  a  will  subdued 
to  his  will,  and  the  whole  man  subjugated  to  his 
service."  Then  it  is  the  reign  of  peace,  and  love, 
and  pleasure  in  the  soul. 

There  are  living  examples  of  this.  Men  who 
have  left  houses  and  lands  in  this  sense,  who  have 
willingly  submitted  to  privations — have  yielded  up 
themselves  a  living  sacrifice — subsidizing  all  for 
Christ — not  in  any  spirit  of  fanaticism,  nor  in  any 
heartless  routine  of  monastic  living,  but  in  a  calm, 
earnest,  well-advised,  sober-minded  devotement  of 
themselves  to  Christ,  manifestly  making  this  their 
all  in  all  for  life !  In  the  world's  eye,  such  "  lose 
their  life."  But  in  God's  eye  such  find  their  life 
and  save  it  in  the  very  worldly  loss  of  it. 

Can  such  a  life  of  loss  be  attractive?  Is  there 
any  thing  in  it  that  looks  like  the  discovery  of  a 
great  secret — like  opening  a  mine  of  gold — like 
unburying  hidden  treasure?  Let  us  see.  First  of 
all.  As  regards  lifes  great  ends.  Life  is  found  or 
lost,  and  saved  or  lost,  according  as  it  realizes  or 
not  its  true  idea.  This  involves  a  high  constitu- 
tional question  of  ivhat  Life  is,  in  its  noblest  and 
best  realization,  and  how  far  any  life  is  a  true  life, 
founded  on  true  principle,  seeking  true  ends;  or 
how  far  it  is  false,  in  all  its  ideas  and  tendencies. 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.      ^  27 

Biologists  who  are  speculating  about  the  origin  of 
life,  and  do  not  study  its  ends,  find  themselves 
absorbed  in  questions  of  life-cells,  and  tissues,  and 
protoplasms,  and  never  discover  the  life  eternal. 
If  the  soul  is  made  for  God,  then  it  can  have  its 
nature  satisfied  only  in  God.  It  can  not  be  a  true 
and  noble  soul — it  can  not  even  enjoy  true  happi- 
ness out  of  its  proper  sphere.  All  that  may  seem 
to  be  joy  is  but  the  animal  gratification  of  the 
hour,  or  the  low,  grovelling  indulgence  of  a  false 
taste,  that  brings  its  swift-dealing  penalty. 

Now  take  a  soul  absorbed  in  the  service  of  Christ 
and  his  Gospel — not  the  monkish  religionist,  deal- 
ing in  the  mere  form  and  ritual  of  service,  but  the 
hearty,  earnest  Christian  worker,  alive  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  and  his  Gospel.  There  is  a  harmony  of 
the  mental  and  moral  powers, — there  is  a  proper  sat- 
isfaction in  the  things  of  God,  such  as  the  worldling 
never  finds  in  the  things  of  Mammon.  The  soul  and 
body  are  so  far  answering  their  true  ends.  And 
there  is  a  fulfilment  of  life's  great  purpose,  which 
is  a  conscious  blessedness. 

]\Ien  need  to  be  convinced  of  what  life  is  in 
tliis  highest  sense.  They  need  to  have  the  para- 
ble of  the  rich  fool  constantly  spoken,  to  teach 
them  that  "a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  tlie 
abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesseth" — 
that  the  most  opulent  and  pampered  lord  is  often 
the  most  menial  slave, — that  under  the  purple  and 
fine  linen,  and  sumptuous  board,  there  is  the  soul 
at  war  with  the  high  ends  of  its  being,  and  so, 
necessarily   ill   at   ease — disconcerted,   and   discon- 


2S  .       LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

tented, — never  truly  at  peace — having  never  any 
Sabbath  within.     Such  a  Hfe  is  a  splendid  failure. 

Now,  the  pleasure  of  a  soul  answering  its  high 
end — the  pleasure  of  all  the  intellectual,  moral 
and  spiritual  functions  having  their  proper  play, 
— working  with  all  the  charm  of  fulfilling  their 
constitutional  design — no  jar — no  contradiction — 
this  is  blessedness  akin  to  the  blessedness  of  God. 
This  is  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing. Truth,  principle,  conscience,  faith  are 
the  highest  prizes  of  life — the  choicest  treasures  of 
the  soul.  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  lodged  in  the  Palace 
Beautiful,  and  slept  in  the  chamber  called  Peace, 
and  in  the  morning  looked  out  upon  the  Delect- 
able Mountains,  and  saw  Immanuel's  land  from  the 
house-top. 

And  then,  further,  the  self-renouncement  which 
subjects  one's  reason  and  opinion  and  option  to 
the  word  and  Avill  of  Christ — this  is  the  key  to  all 
true  and  happy  and  successful  living.  It  is  a  di- 
vine revelation  which  comes  with  power  to  a  man 
who  is  truly  taught  of  God,  that  he  who  tnisteth 
in  his  own  heart  is  Sb  fool.  And  this  is  sound  doc- 
trine, elicited  often  by  the  deepest  experience  of 
life.  Some  other  one  to  trust  in — some  other  one 
to  follow — higher  and  better  than  sell^ — this  is  the 
grand  discovery  of  life  which  realizes  life's  great 
end.  This  is  no  sinking  of  one's  manhood.  It  is 
only  stripping  off  the  tinsel  and  gewgaw  of  child- 
ish folly,  to  put  on  the  proper  garb  and  style  of 
manliness — where  one  becomes  the  most  of  a  man 
by  communion  with  the  God-man — deriving  of  his 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  29 

fulness — copying  his  example — relying  npon  his 
grace,  and  following  his  counsel  and  guidance  to 
glory. 

And  this  is  just  the  condition  in  which  even 
disappointment  brings  no  pain,  because  it  comes 
as  tlie  kind  and  covenant  ordering  of  Jesus.  It  is 
taken  as  belonging  to  the  divine  programme  of 
our  personal  salvation.  This  losing  one's  life  for 
Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel's — subjecting  all  pride 
of  opinion,  and  all  high  ambitions  of  the  reason  to 
the  mind  and  will  of  God  in  the  Scripture,  count- 
ing it  the  highest  reason  to  believe  and  trust  in 
what  God  has  revealed — counting  all  rationalistic 
self-assertion  as  most  unreasonable  against  God's 
written  word — and  carrying  this  into  the  whole 
walk  and  work  of  life, — going  just  when  and  just 
whither  he  commands, — not  stopping  to  make  re- 
ply, nor  to  ask  the  reason  why, — this  is  the  su- 
preme blessedness  of  life.  The  uninitiated  revolt 
at  it,  as  a  humiliating  self-abnegation,  unworthy 
of  a  man.  But  Jesus  will  have  us  thus  lose  self 
to  find  salvation, — where  it  is  only  losing  self  in 
him,  to  have  the  life  hid  with  him  in  God,  as  jew- 
els are  hid  in  a  casket — or  as  a  babe  is  hid  in  the 
folded  arms  of  its  mother.  All  the  sweet  counsels 
of  bosom  friends,  on  whom  we  are  wont  to  lean  in 
our  perplexities,  are  summed  up  and  sanctified  in 
this  gracious  counselling  and  care  of  Jesus.  This 
makes  the  world's  awful  desolations  impossible  to 
such,  and  the  covenant  promise  is  every  day  ful- 
filled, "None  of  them  that  trust  in  him  shall  be 
desolate." 


30  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

Jesiis  preaches  rest^  and  he  provides  rest  to  the 
soul.  And  rest  itself  is  life  itself  You  shall  save 
your  life  by  trusting  it  to  his  keeping — by  losing 
it  in  him.  Here  indeed  occurs  that  blessed  expe- 
rience, that  in  this  emptying  of  one's  self  for  Christ 
— this  losing  of  one's  self  in  Christ — there  is  a 
blessed  losing  of  what  is  evil — a  losing  of  one's 
cares  by  casting  them  upon  Christ — a  losing  of 
one's  sins  by  laying  them  upon  Christ — a  losing 
of  one's  burdens  of  every  kind,  both  temporal  and 
spiritual,  by  rolling  them  upon  Christ — so  that  it 
is  a  happy  loss  for  a  mighty  gain.  And  as  the 
worm  loses  its  crawling  nature,  to  take  on  itself 
the  wings  of » the  butterfly, — so  in  such  self-losing, 
we  are  only  pluming  ourselves  for  the  skies.  To 
lose  one's  life  for  the  Gospel  is  the  true  secret  of 
saving  it. 

The  divine  signature  of  the  work  of  Christ,  more 
than  his  miracles  even,  was  his  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  poor — to  the  laborer — to  the  outcast — 
to  the  distressed.  This  was  his  answer  to  inquir- 
ers and  doubters — wrought  out  and  demonstrated 
in  their  presence.  And  this  is  the  glory  of  the 
Gospel,  that  it  is  a  good  ivord  to  the  2^oor — the  poor 
in  purse,  as  well  as  the  poor  in  spirit.  And  this  is 
the  reflective  glory  of  the  Christian  luork  every- 
where, that  it  stretches  out  the  hand  of  benefi- 
cence to  the  needy,  on  the  great,  high  principle, 
that  it  is  a  blessing  bestowed  upon  Jesus  him- 
self, in  blessing  his  own  poor.  Heathen  religions 
and  philosophies  had  nothing  for  this  class.  The 
Jews  also  derided  them.     "  This  people  " — this  rab- 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  31 

ble  (they  said),  ^'•that  hioiv  not  the  laio  are  accursed." 
But  to  feed  the  hungry — to  clothe  the  naked — to 
enhghten  the  ignorant — to  aid  the  struggHng  and 
weak;  this  is  the  mission  of  the  Gospel.  This  is 
where  the  good  news  and  glad  tidings  come  in. 

It  was  the  glory  of  Athens,  that  she  alone  had 
reared  a  solitary  altar  to  pity.  But  Jesus  rears 
an  altar  to  pity  in  every  Christian  breast.  And 
then  instead  of  the  coliseum  and  the  amphitheatre, 
where  the  slave  was  cast  into  the  arena  to  fight 
with  the  beasts,  there  rose  the  hospital,  the  orphan- 
age, and  the  sanctuary  of  Christian  worship.  And 
to  bless  the  poor  with  Christian  charities,  and  espe- 
cially to  sustain  the  ordinances  for  poor  churches, 
even  at  personal  sacrifice;  this  is  in  so  far  losing 
one's  life  for  Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  and 
this  is  finding  one's  life — finding  the  grand,  high 
object  of  living — man's  chief  end — finding  the  true 
luxury  of  living — to  win  souls  to  Christ. 

"  Sure  they  of  many  blessings 

Should  scatter  blessings  round, 
As  laden  boughs  in  autumn  fling 
Their  ripe  fruit  to  the  ground. 

*'  And  the  best  love  man  can  offer 
To  the  God  of  love,  be  sure, 
Is  kindness  to  his  little  ones 
And  bounty  to  his  poor." 

And  then,  further,  as  regards  the  meed  of  human 
praise,  which  men  so  relish,  and  for  which  they 
labor,  as  an  object  of  life.  It  is  the-  difference  be- 
tween being  esteemed  for  one's  person  and  dress — 


32  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

for  one's  estate  and  equipage — or  for  one's  noble 
qualities  of  soul, — esteemed  for  the  ability  to  com- 
mand indulgences,  or  esteemed  for  the  generosity 
and  charity  of  a  large  beneficence,  that  carries  in- 
dulgences to  others.  What  public  honor  is  there 
among  men,  like  that  which  brings  the  poor,  crowd- 
ing Avith  tears  around  one's  coffin — and  the  Sab- 
bath-school children,  strewing  flowers  upon  one's 
grave?  Nay,  what  is  it  even  to  be  laid  in  the 
poet's  corner  in  Westminster  Abbey,  as  having 
wondrously  portrayed  human  character  in  the  com- 
mon walks  of  life, — as  having  made  one's  pen  speak 
in  sympathy  with  the  neglected  masses?  How  in- 
finitely is  all  this  beneath  the  actual  Christ-like 
work  of  lifting  up  the  masses  by  Christian  char- 
ities, and  by  self-denying  services,  such  as  thrill 
through  the  veiy  body  of  Christ  in  his  feeling  for 
the  poorest  members. 

A  Christian  may  easily  be  defined.  Tliere  needs 
no  controversy  on  so  plain  a  point.  He  is  not 
a  Christian  who  merely  paints  Christianity  on  a 
canvas,  in  her  figure  of  relieving  the  distressed, 
and  ministering  to  the  downtrodden  and  abused. 
No  !  that  is  the  artist's  work,  who  may  paint  with 
magic  colors  an  ideal  most  unlike  himself.  The 
Christian  is  he  who  sits  for  that  original,  who  is 
himself  the  model  of  that  form — the  prototype  of 
that  image.  And  he  finds  his  life,  where  such  a 
mere  artistic  limner  of  it  would  put  the  shadow  for 
the  substance,  and  would  say  he  lost  his  life  in 
seeking  to  devote  it  to  Christ  and  his  Gospel. 

But  this  is  the  charmed  word — losing  one's  life 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  33 

for  Christ.  Yet  this  is  just  where  men  shrink  back, 
and  will  not  readily  venture  on  any  such  experi- 
ment,— can  not  understand  how  loss  can  ever  be 
gcmi, — how  self-denial  can  ever  be  satisfaction  and 
success.  A  man  says,  "I  will  do  what  I  can  for 
the  cause."  He  means — "What  I  can,"  without 
inconvenience.  He  says,  I  am  not  able  to  give  to 
this  or  that  object.  He  means,  not  able  without 
some  privation  or  self-sacrifice — without  the  denial 
of  some  indulgence — either  promised  or  enjoyed — 
without  in  so  far  losing  his  life — losing  some  of 
his  life's  common  pleasures — forgetting  how  the 
uncommon  and  superior  pleasures  of  a  higher  life 
may  come  by  this  very  means — may  come  in  at 
this  very  opening — forgetting  how  the  vessel  must 
be  emptied  of  rubbish  in  order  to  be  filled  with 
treasure — emptied  of  self  in  order  to  be  filled  with 
all  the  falness  of  God.  Nay,  it  is  not  to  be  con- 
cealed nor  evaded,  that  the  highest  aim  of  human 
life  is,  in  this  sense,  to  lose  one's  life — to  set  one's 
self  deliberately  and  earnestly  to  a  life  of  self- 
emptying — self-denial — self-sacrifice  for  Christ  and 
the  Gospel,  abjuring  all  that  pampers  pride,  and 
panders  to  mere  worldly  indulgence,  when  by  the 
true  self-renouncement,  Christ's  cause  may  be  best 
subserved !  It  is  just  the  ever  present  question — 
the  constant,  persistent  application  in  all  the  char- 
ities of  the  church — in  all  the  ofiices  of  beneficence 
— in  the  thousand  appliances  of  Christian  work — 
this  is  it — a  distinct,  undisguised  proposition  to  a 
man  to  lose  his  life,  in  order  to  find  it. 

Some  fruit-trees  must  be  lopped  ofi'  at  the  top  in 


34  LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE. 

order  to  a  better  bearing — the  vine  must  be  pruned 
so  as  to  produce  much  fruit.  Nay,  even  some 
clusters  must  be  stripped  off,  for  the  better  ma- 
turing of  the  rest.  A  ship's  cargo,  even  her  treas- 
"Qi'e,  must  sometimes  be  cast  overboard  to  get  to 
land.  Conquest  is  by  conflict.  Keigning  is  by  suf- 
fering, as  its  necessary  and  fixed  condition.  Even 
in  Christ's  kingdom,  this  is  the  proposition :  "  If 
we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him." 
It  is  the  cross  in  order  to  the  crown. 

But  further  than  all  this,  the  text  is  not  merely 
a  statement.  It  is  also,  and  mainly,  a  covenant. 
It  is  not  merely  the  working  of  a  natural  law,  by 
which  we  must  first  lose  a  thing,  before  we  find  it. 
It  is  the  working  of  a  higher  law,  by  which  Christ 
covenants  to  more  than  compensate  every  loss  in- 
curred in  his  service.  "  Even  the  cup  of  cold  wa- 
ter, given  to  a  disciple  in  his  name,  shall  not  lose  its 
reward."  It  is  a  definite  and  fixed  promise.  "And 
he  said  unto  them,  verily  I  say  unto  ^'ou.  There  is 
no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters, 
or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  cliildren,  or  lands, 
for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive 
an  hundred-fold,  now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  breth- 
ren, and  sisters,  and  children,  and  lands  with  per- 
secution, and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal  life." 
This  is  God's  grand  guarantee.  Prove  ye,  whether 
it  be  not  true — true  in  every  item  of  it.  I  beseech 
you,  my  brethren,  make  proof  of  this  contract.  It 
is  a  plain,  business  transaction.  It  is  a  fair  calcu- 
lation of  outlay  and  return.  Let  no  man  dare  to 
qualify  the  language,  or  to  sph'it  it  away  by  mere 


LOSING    OR    SAVING    LIFE.  35 

spiritualities.  The  plirase  is,  "an  hundred-fold,  now 
in  this  time,  houses  and  lands." 

Do  you  believe  it — that  the  investment  is  com- 
merciaUy  good — that  whatever  is  given  to  God  in 
good  faith  comes  back  with  large  interest  in  this 
life?  God  is  able  to  pay.  He  has  all  resoiu*ces  at 
his  disposal.  He  controls  your  daily  trade — your 
daily  table.  He  can  surely  make  his  service  re- 
munerative. And  he  has  given  his  obligations  in 
Avriting,  sealed  with  royal,  double  seals.  And  why 
should  he  not  make  them  good?  As  Luther  said 
in  an  hour  of  anxiety,  pointing  to  a  bird  on  a 
bending  branch,  where  he  had  perched,  singing, 
"Happy  fellow — he  leaves  God  to  think  for  him." 

I  have  known  men  of  the  world,  Avho  had  made 
trial  of  giving  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  for  return  in 
kind,  and  who  believed  that  they  never  gave  a 
dollar  but  it  came  back  to  them,  with  a  large 
increase,  better  than  the  banks.  And  is  the  Clnis- 
tian  to  hold  back  and  doubt  the  master's  ability, 
or  his  fidelity?  An  hundred-fold^  noiv  in  this  life. 
What?  Not  any  one  hundred  per  cent — two  dol- 
lars for  one !  No !  But  one  himdred-fold.  One 
hundred  dollars  for  one.  Do  you  believe  it?  It  is 
by  a  higher  and  truer  calculation  than  your  best 
experts  or  actuaries  can  make. 

And  then  under  God's  covenant,  you  must  take 
account  of  exemjjtion  from  losses  ivhich  might  other- 
wise  have  come,  as  well  as  of  actual  accumulation ; 
and  who  knows,  how  in  God's  reckoning,  the  large 
total  is  thus  made  up,  without  abatement,  accord- 
ing to  the  largest  terms  of  the  promise. 


36  LOSING    OR    SAVING    IJFE. 

And  there  is  a  positive  increase  of  values,  where 
there  is  an  increase  of  abihty,  to  enjoy  one's  goods. 
The  gift  of  an  appetite  is  more  than  the  gift  of  a 
sumptuous  meal  without  it. 

Count  the  interest^  then,  along  with  the  princi- 
pal. The  disheartened  prophet  under  the  juniper- 
tree  said,  "Let  me  die.  It  is  enough.  Now,  O 
Lord  take  away  my  life ! "  What  are  palaces, 
and  banquets,  and  jewels,  and  equipage  to  a  sick 
soul — to  one  whose  spirits  are  dried  up  ?  But  God 
lifts  the  veil — takes  away  the  pall  from  the  pros- 
pect— gives  to  life  a  new  relish  and  zest.  And 
this  is  houses,  and  lands,  and  brothers,  and  sisters, 
all  in  one!  And  all  this  is  now  in  this  life.  If 
you  knoAV  nothing  of  this,  it  is  because  you  have 
not  tried  it.  And  what  then  of  the  hereafter? 
"  In  the  world  to  come  eternal  life ! "  Here  all 
human  calculation  is  baffled.  Take  the  life  of  an 
angel — of  a  seraph  flaming  with  the  love  of  God. 
But  more  than  this  is  the  bliss  of  a  redeemed  soul. 

I  see  men  everywhere  around  me,  losing  their 
lives — yet  not  for  Christ's  sake,  and  the  Gospel's 
— but  for  passing  indulgences  and  for  vain  ambi- 
tions. I  see  them  losing  life  in  a  mistaken  effort 
to  find  it,  but  finding  nothing  but  drudgery,  and 
disappointment,  and  grief,  and  loss, — finding  death 
instead  of  life,  and  finding  out  the  miserable,  mock- 
ing delusion,  when  it  is  too  late — when  they  have 
lost  their  higher  life  to  gain  the  lower  one — lost 
the  future  life  to  gain  the  present  one — lost  the 
eternal  life  to  gain  the  temporal  one — and  have 
lost  both  lives — lost  the  soul  and  lost  the  body. 


LOSING    OR    SAVING   LIFE.  37 

I  set  before  you,  as  the  surest  calculation  in  all 
the  universe  this  proposition  of  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self— Author  of  Life — source  of  life's  blessedness — - 
of  him  who  is  the  Avay,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life 
— that  you  shall  find  out  life's  highest  uses,  life's 
purest  pleasures — life's  most  lasting  riches  and  re- 
wards, if  only  you  will  lose  yourselves  in  him — as 
a  wife  loses  herself  in  her  husband — as  a  friend 
loses  himself  in  a  bosom  friend.  If  only  you  will 
lose  sight  of  self  in  his  sweet  service — if  only  you 
will  let  go  the  lower,  lesser  life  for  the  higher, 
greater  life — you  shall  ever  find  all  life's  common 
joys  sweetened  to  you — all  life's  common  natural 
ties  strengthened  and  endeared  to  you.  You  shall 
find  out  the  secret  of  happy  living,  which  you  were 
seeking  for,  in  other  and  false  pursuits.  And  you 
shall  find  that  the  life  of  a  man,  when  it  is  elevated 
by  such  divine  aims  as  Jesus  Christ  proposes,  be- 
comes a  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God, — becomes  the 
life  of  God  himself  in  the  soul  of  man. 


III. 

LIMITATIONS    OF    THE    DIVINE   WORKING. 

"And  he  could  there  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that  he  laid  his 
hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk,  and  healed  them." — Mark  vi.  5. 

God  himself  is  laiv  itself.  And  he  can  not  work 
except  in  deference  to  law,  as  embodying  the  most 
solid  and  fixed  principles  of  action.  Law  is  not 
God — but  only  the  proof  of  a  lawgiver,  who  is 
God.  As  we  understand  it,  law  is  only  the  uni- 
form working  of  force  and  power,  whether  in  nat- 
ural or  in  spiritual  things,  as  that  law  is  deduced 
from  our  observation  and  experience  in  manifold 
instances.  And  when  we  speak  of  miracles,  men 
commonly  regard  them  as  either  violations  of  law, 
or  suspensiotis  of  law,  while  in  truth  they  are  only 
exceptional  workings,  which  are  equally  within  the 
sphere  of  law,  only  of  higher  law,  transcending  all 
ordinary  phenomena.  In  a  most  important  sense, 
the  grace  of  God  is  omnipotent  Yet  not  so,  be 
sure,  as  to  be  irrespective  of  all  fixed  principles  of 
working.  "He  is  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost." 
But  observe,  it  is  "all  that  come  unto  God  by 
him."  He  is  not  willing  that  any  should  perish. 
No!     But  that  all  should  come  unto  repentance. 


LIMITATIONS    OF    DIVINE    WORKING.  39 

For  the  man  that  cometh  not  to  repentance,  must 
go  on  to  condemnation  and  perdition. 

Look  out  in  nature.  The  sun  and  rain  are  not 
able,  even  in  their  timeKest  and  most  genial  opera- 
tion, to  bring  any  verdure  out  of  the  rocJc.  And 
yet  this  is  no  defect  in  the  quahty  of  the  sun,  or 
the  rain.  It  is  only  a  necessary  result,  in  such  con- 
dition of  things,  according  to  constitutional  law. 

So  also  in  the  domain  of  grace,  as  set  forth  in 
the  text.  There  is  a  certain  necessary  limitation 
of  the  divine  working.  God  bows  to  the  eternal 
fitness  of  things.  He  is  himself  controlled  by  the 
law  of  his  supreme  love  and  faithfulness.  The 
divine  omnipotence,  in  gracious  operation,  is  con- 
ditioned by  the  advertised  plan,  as  regards  the 
subject,  or  the  sphere,  or  the  circumstances,  in  any 
'particular  case.  And  yet,  this  is  no  essential  qual- 
ification of  the  fact  that  God  is  omnipotent,  or  that, 
in  the  theological  sense,  the  divine  grace  is  irre- 
sistihle.  God's  plan  of  grace  can  not  be  thwarted 
by  the  creature.  "  He  will  have  mercy  on  whom 
he  will  have  mercy."  But  there  is  a  plan.  He 
will  have  mercy  on  whosoever  will.  And  accord- 
ing to  this  plan,  God  is  pleased  to  work,  and  so  to 
limit  his  operations.  "God  so  loved  the  world." 
How  much  and  how?  That  he  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten Son.  But  only  with  a  plan,  and  for  a  defi- 
nite end — that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  (and 
none  other),  might  not  perish  (as  otherwise  he 
must)  but  have  eternal  life. 

Plainly,  there  are  certain  things  in  morals,  which 
it  is  impossible  for  God  to  do.     It  is  impossible  for 


40  LIMITATIONS    OF 

God  to  lie.  And  wliy  is  it  impossible?  Simply 
because  he  can  not  be  false  to  himself,  or  false 
to  any  creature  or  interest  in  the  universe.  And 
hence,  it  is  essentially  inconsistent  with  the  very 
nature  of  things,  and  contradictory  to  the  very 
idea  of  God. 

In  the  passage  before  us  it  is  written,  that  in 
a  certain  place,  and  in  certain  circumstances  re- 
corded, Jesus  Christ  could  do  no  mighty  work — 
with  the  very  partial  exception  that  is  named. 
It  is  an  actual  inability  that  is  spoken  of  It  is 
recorded  here  as  impossible  in  the  circumstances. 
Is  his  grace  then  limited  by  creature  conditions? 
Let  us  see.  The  limiting  cause  in  the  case  before 
us  was  the  unbelief  of  the  people.  Nothing  else. 
This  was  his  own  people.  It  was  his  own  coun- 
try and  city  of  Nazareth.  It  was  amongst  his  own 
neighbors,  and  kinsfolk,  and  acquaintance.  And 
you  have  it  written  here  precisely  how  the  matter 
worked.  He  had  been  known  by  his  townsmen 
in  his  boyhood.  His  family  was  well  known.  His 
trade,  his  brothers  and  sisters  and  mother — all — 
they  knew  them  all.  And  they  reasoned  about 
him  thus:  "Is  not  this  the  carpenter — the  son  of 
Mary,  the  brother  of  James — a  man  of  our  commu- 
nity. We  know  all  about  him — his  antecedents, 
origin,  training,  occupation,  family,  condition  in 
life  and  daily  business.  Whence  then  hath  this 
man  this  wisdom  and  these  mighty  works  reported 
of  him  ?  "  These  were  the  workings  of  their  minds. 
It  was  from  the  natural  view  of  the  case.  And 
this  was  the  bar  to  their  faith.     Looking  upon  him 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  41 

tlius^  in  the  mere  human  aspect — they  could  not  be- 
lieve. And  not  believing  in  him,  they  could  not  be 
saved. 

But  yon  say,  it  is  the  divine  prerogative  to  give 
faith.  So  it  is.  But  faith  is  not  a  substance,  which 
God  could  give  a  man,  as  you  could  give  a  man 
bread  or  water.  No!  It  is  a  mental  condition  and 
quality  of  thought  and  of  heart,  which  can  be 
given  only  in  consonance  with  the  laws  of  mind, 
and  in  keeping  with  the  constitution  of  the  soul. 
Faith  was  never  given,  as  a  solitary  and  independ- 
ent gift,  apart  from  its  necessary,  conditions  and 
concomitants.  There  must  be  mental  states,  fore- 
going convictions  and  affections  accompanying. 
And  though  faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  it  is  such  a 
gift  as  is  effectually  barred  by  all  the  conditions 
of  persistent  and  cherished  unbelief  Therefore, 
faith,  as  a  grace,  does  not  spring  up  alone,  as  if 
it  could  be  communicated  by  itself,  and  independ- 
ently of  other  graces.  It  is  simply  a  quality  of  the 
divine  life  in  the  soul.  It  can  not  co-exist  with 
such  prejudices  against  Christ's  person  and  work 
as  belonged  to  those  Nazarenes.  It  is  founded 
on  truth,  and  it  must  have  its  corresponding  con- 
victions. It  relates  to  a  person,  and  it  must  have 
its  coiTesponding  affections. 

The  blessed  Spirit  of  God,  the  sole  agent  in  re- 
generation, however  supernatural,  works  naturally, 
not  unnaturally.  He  goes  so  far  towards  giving 
you  faith,  every  one  of  you,  that  he  has  given 
you  the  wonderful  record,  abundantly  attested, 
to    be    implicitly    believed.      And    the    wonderful 


42  LIMITATIONS    OF 

person  and  life  to  be  fully  trusted.  And  all  that 
is  lacking,  is  just  the  sincere  disposition  to  ac- 
cept the  truth,  thus  amply  set  before  you.  And 
God  can  not  make  you  believe  against  your  con- 
victions, nor  against  your  will.  So  Jesus  says  to 
some  of  his  hearers,  ^^  How  can  ye  believe,  who  re- 
ceive honor  one  of  another,  and  seek  not  the  honor 
that  Cometh  from  God  only?"  How  can  ye  pos- 
sibly do  it?  There  are  necessary  conditions  of  be- 
lieving. And  a  man,  in  the  rush  of  pride,  ambi- 
tion, and  self-seeking,  can  not  be  a  believer.  "The 
natural  man  discerneth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned."  Therefore,  while  it  belongs 
to  God  to  give  faith,  he  can  not  give  it  arbitra- 
rily, and  abstractly,  and  apart  from  all  consti- 
tutional laAV.  No  man  can  expect  it,  much  less 
insist  on  it  as  the  gift  of  God,  when  he  is  mov- 
ing habitually,  in  another  and  contrary  sphere  of 
thought,  and  feeling,  and  action,  using  no  means, 
cherishing  no  kindred  influences.  For  God  can 
not  contravene  all  the  laws  of  mind.  This  would 
be  to  deny  himself  He  works  within  the  sphere 
of  mental  and  moral  law.  And  though  his  grace 
has  no  conditions — as  if  it  were  to  be  bargained 
for — yet  there  are  the  necessary  conditions  for  the 
operation  of  the  grace — the  conditions  of  things  in 
which  the  grace  operates,  and  which  is  essential  to 
its  operation.  So  it  is  said,  "He  came  unto  his 
own,  and  his  own  received  him  not."  And  so, 
using  a  natural  illustration,  it  is  said,  "The  light 
shineth   in    darkness,    and   the   darkness   compre- 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  43 

hended  it  not" — did  not  take  it  in.  Just  as  when 
a  dark  cloud  is  so  thick,  as  to  be  impenetrable  by 
the  rays  of  the  sun.  We  understand  that.  It  is 
no  sudden  defect  of  the  sun's  power.  Only  that 
is  not  the  condition  of  things  in  which  the  sun's 
power  can  be  felt. 

Let  us  apply  these  principles  to  the  operations 
of  divine  grace,  and  inquire  what  are  the  necessary 
limitations  of  the  gracious  working  in  any  case 
or  community.  There  was  the  large  majority  of 
instances  at  Nazareth,  in  which  Jesus  Christ  could 
NOT,  was  not  able,  it  is  said,  to  do  any  mighty  work 
of  healing  and  salvation,  with  only  a  few  rare  ex- 
ceptions. Our  inquiry  relates,  first,  to  the  case  of 
the  man  himself,  and  second,  to  the  case  of  those 
who  are  seeking  the  man's  salvation.  As  to  the 
individual  case,  unhelief  is  the  effective  bar  and  lim- 
itation of  the  divine  working.  Take  it  as  regards 
the  work  of  healmg,  when  Christ  was  upon  earth. 
This  illustrates  the  great  salvation  in  all  time. 
The  principles  are  the  same  for  the  soul  as  for 
the  body. 

First,  we  are  to  understand  that  Christ's  chosen 
work  is  to  cure  and  to  save — and  that  this  is  the 
uniform  operation  and  result  of  the  means  of  grace, 
unless  we  interpose  the  unbelieving  hindrances. 
Commonly  we  think  of  the  grace  as  sitting  in 
state,  arbitrarily  waiting  to  be  pleaded  with  and 
persuaded — like  imperial  power,  that  is  indifferent 
to  its  subjects,  and  only,  peradventure,  attentive  to 
their  petitions.  But  not  so.  On  the  contrary,  Je- 
sus Christ  is  out  upon  his  work  of  healing,  travers- 


44  LIMITATIONS    OF 

ing  the  world,  seeking  and  saving  the  lost.  Cures 
are  his  element — his  proper  motions.  They  flow 
from  him  as  his  living  breath — as  water  from  a 
fountain — as  light  from  the  sun — as  life  from  the 
Godhead.  They  are  the  natural  radiations  of  his 
love,  save  where  we  interpose  the  unbelieving  ob- 
structions. For  a  fountain  can  be  wilfully  choked, 
in  this  or  that  passage,  and  the  sun's  rays  can  be 
shut  out  from  one's  eyes  or  from  his  windows.  The 
sun  shines  for  all,  but  not  so  as  to  reach  the  man 
who  hides  away  in  a  garret  or  in  a  cellar,  and  will 
not  be  beholden  to  its  beams. 

See  how  that  woman  that  came  away  from  all 
the  world's  physicians,  in  sheer  despair,  to  Jesus, 
got  somehow  this  living  thought  into  her  soul.  It 
flashed  down  into  her  dark,  desponding  bosom,  and 
therewith  all  her  energies  were  roused  to  action. 
She  thought  within  herself — ah,  this  is  the  turning 
point  in  her  life — she  thought  within  herself,  "If 
I  may  but  touch  the  hem  of  his  garment,  I  shall  be 
made  whole."  She  came  to  think  of  him,  as  of  a 
galvanic  Jar,  surcharged  with  all  the  electricity 
of  love  and  healing  —  so  that  even  the  touch  of 
even  the  hem  of  his  garment  would  give  her  the 
cure.  If  we  could  so  estimate  it,  that  in  him  all 
fulness  dwells — all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bod- 
ily and  all  for  us — then  we  should  see  the  truth 
in  something  of  its  proper  light,  as  reflecting  on 
ourselves  the  fearful  responsibility  we  incur  of  our 
own  perdition. 

So  the  prodigal  one  day  came  to  himself!  "These 
rags — these  husks — these  swine."    Let  no  man  say, 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  45 

that  his  own  case  is  too  bad  or  too  far  gone  now 
for  a  cure.  Such  limitation  of  Christ's  power  as 
we  find  in  the  text  is  not  a  weakness.  It  is  only 
an  indication  of  strength.  God  is  restricted,  not 
by  any  stint  or  failure  of  his  resources.  No.  But 
only  by  the  lack  of  the  proper  sphere  for  his  oper- 
ations in  any  case. 

If  you  go  with  a  broken  limb  to  an  oculist,  you 
are  not  in  the  way  of  healing.  His  power  does 
not  operate  in  this  direction.  All  he  wants  is  to 
^ave  the  proper  applicants  for  the  cure  he  has  to 
give.  God's  self-limitation  therefore  is  all  in  per- 
fect consistency  with  his  omnipotence,  which  only 
conditions  itself  in  wisdom  and  righteousness  and 
faithfulness  and  love.  God  will  be  true — true  to 
himself — true  to  the  sinner — true  to  the  Gospel 
scheme  as  revealed  to  men — true  to  the  universe. 
The  sun  must  have  an  atmosphere  to  work  in,  or 
he  can  not  shine.  The  most  powerful  light  will 
go  out  amidst  the  mephitic  damps  of  a  well  or  a 
mine.  The  prophet  says  to  Israel,  "Behold,  the 
Lord's  hand  is  not  shortened  that  it  can  not  save ; 
neither  his  ear  heavy,  that  it  can  not  hear;  but 
your  iniquities  have  separated  between  you  and 
your  God,  and  your  sins  have  hid  his  face  from 
you,  that  he  will  not  hear."  The  hindrance  does 
not  lie  in  God's  sovereignty.  No!  Nor  in  God's 
absolute  decree.  No!  Nor  in  any  unwillingness 
of  God  to  save.  No !  Nor  in  any  lack  of  provision 
in  any  possible  case.  No.  No.  It  lies  simply  and 
only  in  your  imMief. 

Of  what  avail  would  it  be  to  you,  if  a  draft  for 


46  LIMITATIONS    OF 

a  thousand  pounds  were  put  into  your  hand,  to 
your  order,  if  you  thought  it  a  fraud,  or  a  mistake, 
for  some  other  man,  or  for  yourself  only  upon 
some  impossible  condition;  and  for  this,  or  any 
reason,  you  would  not  endorse  your  name  upon 
it,  or  draw  the  money  at  the  bank?  You  can  not 
give  a  man  the  most  precious  gift,  if  he  will  not 
take  it. 

And,  second.  This  wihelief  is  the  sole  and  certain 
harrier  to  the  divine  grace^  because  the  faith  required 
is  only  the  necessary  instrument  by  which  we  re- 
ceive the  blessing.  Nothing  more  is  required  of 
us  than  heartily  to  accept  the  gift.  Nothing  less 
is  compatible  with  our  receiving  and  enjoying  the 
blessing.  You  think  of  the  faith  being  requisite, 
as  a  positive,  pre-eminent  grace,  and  the  grace, 
you  say,  you  can  not  furnish.  And  the  grace  of 
faith  in  possession  and  exercise  supposes  the  sal- 
vation to  be  already  achieved.  This  is  the  confu- 
sion of  ideas.  Just  here,  the  problem  is  tangled 
to  the  common  Adew.  But  the  faith  is  requisite, 
only  by  a  necessary  law  of  the  mental  and  moral 
constitution.  Faith  in  a  father's  promise  is  neces- 
sary to  any  enjoyment  of  the  promises.  But  you 
do  not  go  into  a  diagnosis  of  your  mental  or  moral 
state,  and  ask  yourself  if  you  have  the  grace  of 
faith  in  your  father.  No.  You  do  not  puzzle 
yourself  with  such  an  analysis  of  faith  as  a  grace 
or  quality  prerequisite.  No!  You  want  only' to  be 
sure  of  your  father's  word !  In  the  case  of  those 
Nazarenes;  how  should  any  of  their  invalids  be 
cured  by  him  if  they  came  not  to  him  for  the  heal- 


THE    DIVINE   WORKING.  47 

ing— if  they  derided  his  claims,  and  disbelieved  his 
teachings?  It  is  written  of  others — of  those  at  Jer- 
usalem— "That  the  blind  and  the  lame  came  to  him 
in  the  temple,  and  he  healed  them  aU."  "  As  many 
as  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment,  were  made  whole." 
But  here  they  did  not  come  to  him.  And  this  sim- 
ply because  they  did  not  believe  in  him,  and  would 
not  be  beholden  to  his  grace.  It  was  not  the  mere 
local  absence  that  prevented  the  cure.  He  could 
have  cured  them  at  a  distance  by  a  word,  by  a 
will.  This  he  did  at  times  wdien  the  faith  was 
exercised.  But  it  was  the  indifference,  and  the 
disobedience — it  was  the  suspicion,  and  the  aliena- 
tion— it  was  the  incredulity  and  malignity^  that  put 
them  out  of  the  sphere  of  the  gracious  operation. 
It  is  not  the  faith,  as  a  matured,  ripened  grace, 
that  is  prerequisite  to  the  cure.  It  is  just  the  re- 
ceptivity and  susceptibility,  that  lays  itself  open 
to  the  cure,  and  invites  it,  which  is,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  requisite.  The  simple  believing 
is,  of  course,  necessary  and  indispensable  to  the 
receiving. 

A  steamer  is  at  the  wharf,  waiting  for  pas- 
sengers. The  knowledge  and  faith  are  necessary, 
which  will  lead  a  man  to  go  on  board.  And  this 
is  necessary,  not  as  any  meritorious  quality  in  the 
passenger,  not  as  any  grace  of  faith,  but  only  as 
a  necessity  in  the  nature  of  the  case.  His  going 
aboard  does  not  pay  his  fare.  No !  But  he  must 
go  aboard,  or  be  left  behind. 

And  further — this  divine  law  of  gracious  oper- 
ation  will   be   illustrated   by  the   exceptional   in- 


48  LIMITATIONS    OF 

stances  here  mentioned.  "He  could  not  do  there 
any  mighty  work,  save  that  he  laid  his  hands  upon 
a  few  sick  folk  and  healed  them."  These  few  sick 
folk — how  did  they  obtain  the  healing  as  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  rule  among  the  Nazarenes? 
These  were  doubtless  such  as,  in  their  sickness,  felt 
the  need  of  his  cure,  and  sought  it  in  their  hearts 
— and  either  sought  him  out,  or  if  they  could  not 
do  this,  and  could  not  put  themselves  in  his  way, 
were  brought  to  his  notice  by  friends  who  be- 
lieved, or  were  sought  out  by  him  for  the  healing, 
which  they  most  of  all  things  desired.  This  state 
of  mind — this  readiness  to  receive  the  blessing — 
this  earnest  desire  after  it — this  measure  of  faith  in 
him,  that  would  invite  it,  and  accept  it  thankfully, 
if  it  were  knowm,  and  within  reach — this  is  what 
everywhere  he  required,  and  this  was  all.  ^^Wilt 
thou  be  made  whole?"  Wilt  thou?  "Believest 
thou  that  I  am  able  to  do  this  ?  " 

So  it  is  (in  every  community),  the  few  sick  folk 
upon  whom  he  lays  his  hands  and  heals  them — 
they  are  the  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  Oh ! 
why  so  few  healed,  when  so  many  are  sick — only 
that  they  do  not  count  themselves  sick,  or  because 
of  obstructions  interposed  by  themselves — not  for 
any  lack  of  divine  willingness  to  save — but  only 
for  lack  of  their  willingness  to  be  saved.  They  are, 
in  their  own  estimation,  whole,  and  do  not  need  a 
physician — or,  they  are  doubters,  and  disbelievers, 
quibbling  about  questions  which  do  not  concern 
their  vital  necessity — and  whilst  they  are  argu- 
ing and  disputing  and  cavilling  about  doctrines, 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  49 

or  duties,  or  means  and  methods,  they  perish.  But 
these/eiv  sick  folk  have  blessed  the  day  they  ever 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  his  grace.  From  off 
their  cots  of  pain  and  disease — out  of  the  depths 
of  their  misery,  they  rejoice  in  his  great  salvation. 

And  further,  it  is  plain,  that  it  is  not  any  ma- 
tured and  perfected  faith  that  is  requisite,  but  only 
such  a  measure  of  it,  as  brings  one  within  the 
sphere  of  his  working,  and  makes  the  saving  con- 
tact possible.  The  fountain  is  gushing  with  its 
healing  waters.  But  these  gushing,  healing  wa- 
ters are  nothing  to  the  man  who  will  not  try 
their  virtue,  and  will  have  none  of  them  for  a 
cure.  They  may  flow  on  forever,  like  Niagara, 
and  he  will  be  unhealed  by  them.  The  man  may 
be  thirsting  to  death,  and  yet  keeping  at  his  dis- 
tance for  some  prejudice  or  mistake  he  will  get 
no  slaking  of  his  thirst.  Therefore  the  call  is, 
"  Come  ye  to  the  waters."  And  faith,  that  is  only 
as  yet  very  partially  enlightened,  and  very  weak, 
and  very  distrustful — if  only  it  bring  the  sinner  to 
Christ  for  a  cure — meets  the  demand,  and  makes 
the  salvation  sure. 

The  woman  who  touched  him  in  the  crowd 
thought  that  she  might  carry  oif  the  healing  virtue 
unbeknown  to  others  and  even  to  him — thought 
that  she  might  have  the  healing  all  to  herself^ — 
quite  a  secret — and  hidden  from  the  rest.  This 
was  her  first  low  view  of  the  situation.  She  was 
ashamed  of  her  disease — could  not  bear  to  speak 
of  it — nor  bear  to  have  it  noticed  in  the  crowd, 
before  the  congregation;  just  as  men  and  women 
1 


50  LIMITATIONS    OF 

are  ashamed  to  own  themselves  sinners,  and  pen- 
itents, and  to  be  humihated  before  Christ,  or  to 
confess  him  before  men.  All  that  had  well  nigh 
proved  a  fatal  barrier  to  her  in  the  way  of  the 
grace.  But  she  despaired  of  other  helps.  She 
came  at  the  impulse  of  her  strong  conviction. 
She  ventured  on  the  touch.  She  came  into  the 
necessary  contact  with  him,  even  by  the  garment 
fringe.  And  Christ  brought  her  out,  and  led  her 
into  the  proper  development  of  a  believing  spirit, 
in  a  believing  life.  And  to  her  infinite  joy  she 
was  healed,  despite  all  the  defects  of  her  faith,  and 
she  felt  the  conscious  healing  course  through  all 
her  frame. 

Look  at  the  twelve  themselves.  On  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  with  Christ  in  the  vessel — when  the  storm 
came  up  and  the  elemental  war  threatened  to  wreck 
their  boat  and  their  faith  together — when  they  can 
not  trust  themselves  with  him  in  the  same  vessel, 
will  he  let  them  go  down  as  the  just  rebuke  and 
punishment  of  their  unbelief  ?  No!  Does  he  curse 
them  to  their  face  ?  Does  he  even  threaten  them  ? 
No !  For  he  recognizes  the  faith  in  the  germ  and 
he  fosters  it.  With  what  infinite  tenderness  and 
forbearance  he  says,  "Why  are  ye  so  fearful,  0  ye 
of  little  faith?" 

I  am  often  asked — why  God  does  not  save  all 
men,  seeing  he  is  able  to  save  all?  The  Scripture 
answers,  "Jesus  is  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost, 
all  that  come  unto  God  by  him."  We  may  fairly 
say,  God  does  save  all  whom  he  is  able  to  save  con- 
sistently with  his  plan  of  redemption.     And  this 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  51 

plan  is  part  of  tlie  constitutional  law  of  tlie  uni- 
verse, by  wliicli  he  can  save  only  such  as  believe. 
Some  men  claim  to  hope  in  a  universal  salvation. 
But  there  is  no  other  salvation  than  this  of  Christ 
in  the  Gospel,  and  it  is  as  universal  as  the  case  will 
admit.  It  is  for  all  ivlto  tvill.  What  can  be  more 
free?     And  how  can  it  be  for  those  who  will  not? 

Examine  the  law  of  operation,  second,  as  re- 
gards those  who  are  seeking  the  salvation  of  otli- 
ers.  That  Nazareth  had  been  greatly  honored  and 
blessed  as  a  community.  The  very  fact  which 
stood  in  the  way  of  their  faith  was  the  glorious 
truth  that  Jesus  had  been  reared  among  them, 
and  that  they  knew  him,  and  his  household,  all 
of  them  by  name.  And  that  very  city,  where  he 
was  one  of  themselves,  was  awfully  hardened,  and 
disbelieving,  just  by  reason  of  their  superior  privi- 
leges. No  wonder  it  is  written,  "  He  marvelled  be- 
cause of  their  unbelief" 

It  is  often  so — that  the  communities  most  dis- 
tinguished for  religious  privilege — for  having  the 
church  and  the  household  of  faith  in  their  midst 
— are  the  most  hardened  against  Christ  himself 
As  though  he  had  made  himself  cheap  and  com- 
monplace by  living  among  them  —  had  become 
a  stranger  by  being  familiar,  and  so  that  a  real 
stranger  would  have  had  more  influence,  and 
strange  doctrines  would  carry  the  day.  His  won- 
derful works  were  an  old  story,  and  simply  incred- 
ible to  them,  in  the  view  of  his  well-known  human 
relations.  This  is  also  the  feature  of  our  age — that 
it  rejects  Christ,  simply  because  he  has  become  so 


52  LIMITATIONS    OF 

familiar — rejects  him  as  God,  because  he  has  be- 
come man — rejects  his  Gospel,  because  his  church 
and  worship  and  claims  have  become  an  old  story. 
His  people  are  known — his  brothers  and  sisters — 
and  they  are  criticised.  Some  fault  is  found,  and 
readily  enough,  with  one  or  other  of  them.  The 
age  will  have  something  new  and  strange.  Not 
one  home-horn^  but  a  stranger  will  be  accepted. 
Not  Christ,  but  any  antichrist,  without  half  of  his 
credentials  and  his  attestations.  Jesus  Christ  mar- 
vels at  your  unbelief  But  every  man's  eternal 
future  shall  be  according  to  his  own  free  choice — 
"Whosoever  luill^  let  him  take  the  water  of  life — 
freely."  And  whosoever  loill  7iof,  must  take  the 
opposite,  and  drink  of  the  waters  of  death.  So 
that  Jesus  does,  in  effect,  say  to  every  man,  "  Be 
it  unto  thee,  even  as  thou  Avilt."  For  the  future 
life  is  the  fruit,  of  which  this  life  is  the  bud  and 
blossom.  The  longings  show  the  belongings.  It 
is  according  to  one's  path  here,  that  he  shall  travel 
there.  According  to  your  affinities,  dispositions, 
attractions  and  actions  shall  be  your  destiny  here- 
after. Even  of  Judas,  it  is  said,  he  went  to  his 
own  place.  This  state  of  the  public  mind  is  at 
this  moment,  a  mighty  barrier  in  the  way  of  his 
doing  his  mighty  works.  All  this  parleying  and 
arguing  about  Christ — this  speculation  as  to  who 
he  is — this  derision  of  him  for  his  human  origin 
and  antecedents — this  denial  of  his  Divine  Person 
and  offices — all  this,  stands  to-day  in  the  way  of 
the  grace.  For  God  will  not  work  where  there  is 
no  compatibility  with  the  working. 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  53 

And  so  again — where  the  community  is  overrmi 
with  workUiness,  and  there  is  no  spiritual  taste — 
no  desire  after  God — and  where  the  church  itself  is 
poisoned  by  the  low  marshy  miasma  of  the  world 
— there  is  no  sphere  for  the  gracious  operation. 
The  Spirit  of  God,  instead  of  being  cherished,  is 
grieved — instead  of  being  fostered  is  quenched — 
sacred  things  are  trodden  under  foot  in  the  rush 
after  the  world's  vanities,  and  all  the  appliances  of 
the  Gospel  are  resisted !  All  the  means  of  grace, 
that  are  put  in  operation,  rebound,  as  from  a  wall 
of  adamant.  In  the  healing  career  of  Jesus  among 
the  cities  and  villages  of  Palestine  it  is  written, 
that  they  brought  to  him  all  that  were  diseased,  and 
them  that  were  possessed  with  devils,  and  he  cured 
them.  The  church  is  an  agency  set  up  in  the 
world  for  bringing  the  outcast  and  lost  to  the 
notice  of  this  Jesus — and  for  bringing  them  in  the 
arms  of  our  faith  to  his  feet.  Some  are  converted, 
that  they  may  labor  for  the  conversion  of  others. 
And  where  this  agency  is  lacking — where  this 
instrumentality  is  at  a  stand-still — the  histoiy  of 
gracious  operation  in  any  church  or  community  is 
like  that  which  is  written  here,  "  He  did  not  many 
mighty  works  there,  because  of  their  unbelief" 

God  works  in  accordance  with  law.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  law  that  works,  but  God,  who  is  the  em- 
bodiment of  law.  It  is  a  high  personal  agency. 
He  will  not  work  his  mighty  cures,  where  there  is 
no  demand  for  them — no  belief  in  him,  nor  in  his 
healing.  He  can  not  do  it^  in  the  very  nature  of 
things.     There  will  be  no  revival  of  religion  in  the 


54  LIMITATIONS    OF 

gambling  hall,  or  in  the  drinking  saloon — no — nor 
where  the  community,  and  the  church  itself,  is 
intoxicated  with  mirth  or  strife  or  gambling  for 
gain.  That  is  not  the  atmosphere  where  the  Spirit 
dwells.  He  is  grieved  and  quenched  by  such  a 
condition  of  things.  So  Jesus  can  not  work  against 
all  the  opposing  influences  of  unbelief,  even  in  his 
own  city, — among  his  own  people.  It  is  not  in 
the  nature  of  things  possible.  It  would  be  as  im- 
possible  as  for  God  to  lie,  or  to  deny  himself. 

Look  out  and  see  the  few  sick  folk  healed,  in 
comparison  of  the  multitudes — a  few  among  the 
thousands.  My  hearer!  You  complain  that  God 
does  not  save  you.  But  you  do  not  consider  that 
you  are  virtually  tying  his  hands,  so  that  he  can 
not  do  it — any  more  than  he  can  lie,  because  he 
can  not  be  false  to  himself  My  brethren,  here  the 
whole  problem  resolves  itself  into  an  earnest,  be- 
lieving application  and  supplication  for  the  bless- 
ing: Do  not  charge  it  upon  God's  sovereignty,  I 
beseech  you,  or  upon  an  inexorable  decree  against 
you.  The  decree  of  grace  and  salvation  by  Christ 
is  here  plainly  revealed  and  published.  If  you  want 
the  blessing,  take  it — "Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive." 

There  is  a  heartless,  faithless  way  of  asking,  that 
does  not  amount  to  seeking,  and  that  never  would 
go  so  far  as  the  actual  knocking  to  enter  in.  You 
may  ask,  and  not  come  prepared  to  take  the  bless- 
ing that  is  offered — as  a  man  may  apply  for  some- 
thing, which  he  is  not  ready  to  take  home  with 
him,  for  the  reason  that  he  has  not  expected  to  get 
it,  or  to  get  it  noiv.     You  may  not  be  prepared, 


THE    DIVINE    WORKING.  55 

in  your  business  affairs,  or  in  your  household,  or 
in  your  worldly  social  engagements — for  receiv- 
ing the  Holy  Ghost  into  your  heart,  or  into  your 
household,  just  noio.  And  God  does  not  grant  it 
to-day,  with  an  understanding  that  you  may  take 
it  to-morrow.  No.  The  very  readiness  of  God  to 
give  the  blessing  on  the  spot  may  be  that  which 
you  are  not  prepared  for,  and  which  will  always 
stand  in  the  way  of  your  receiving  the  blessing 
at  all.  You  are  never  ready  to  take  it  just  at 
once,  and  without  any  further  delays — not  ready 
to  sit  down  with  Christ  to  the  passover  table,  just 
because  you  are  well  aware  that  there  is  some 
leaven,  not  yet  searched  for  and  cleared  up  and 
cast  out  of  your  house  or  your  heart. 

My  hearers,  I  know  not  what  barrier  stands  in 
the  way  of  this  divine  grace  with  any  of  you  to- 
day. But  plainly,  this  is  the  record  here,  as  there. 
*'He  could  do  no  mighty  works,  save  that  he  laid 
his  hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk,  and  healed  them." 
But  I  am  instructed  to  say,  "  It  is  not  the  pleasure 
of  God  that  any  of  you,  my  hearers,  should  perish." 
If  it  were  only  your  pleasure  to  be  saved,  and  to 
come  to  him  for  salvation,  then  you  would  be 
saved.  If  it  were  even  the  pleasure  of  Christian 
friends — of  God's  praying  people  here,  that  these 
should  be  saved,  and  if  so,  they  brought  them  to- 
day, in  hearty  concert,  as  those  four  friends  brought 
the  paralytic  to  Christ  for  a  cure,  I  can  not  doubt 
that  the  cure  would  come. 

But  woe  to  the  man  or  the  household,  that  bars  the 
incoming  of  the  Holy  Ghost!     Better  bar  the  gates 


56  LIMITATIONS    OF    DIVINE    WORKING. 

of  the  spring,  and  let  no  blade  of  grass  or  flower 
or  blossom  appear.  Better  bar  the  gates  of  the 
morning  against  the  glorious  sunrise.  Better  bar 
the  door  of  your  dwelling  against  your  OAvn  father 
and  mother,  or  against  the  best  beloved  of  your 
soul.  Better  bar  the  chambers  of  your  sense,  and 
let  the  pall  of  death  hang  upon  all  your  being, 
than  to  bar  out  the  Sweet  Spirit  of  God,  Quickener, 
Teacher,  Comforter,   Kenewer,   Sanctifier,   Saviour. 


IV. 

CHRIST— THE    IDEAL   MISSIONARY. 

"Who  went  about  doing  good." — Acts  x.  38, 

Beyond  the  plain  statements  and  predictions  of 
the  Scriptures,  a  vision  was  necessary  to  reveal  to 
the  church  the  great  mystery  of  the  ingathering  of 
the  outside  world.  And  when  Peter  stands  up  the 
first  time  to  publish  the  grand  truth,  and  open  the 
door  to  the  Gentiles,  he  speaks  of  the  Gospel  mes- 
sage as  embracing  the  glorious  facts  of  Jesus'  life, 
death,  and  resurrection.  And  in  this  statement  he 
condenses  the  whole  of  this  wonderful  biograpliy 
into  these  few  words.  The  life  of  Jesus  full  of 
work — full  of  gracious  deeds — full  of  saving  acts — 
is  well  and  truly  expressed  in  this  brief  phrase, 
"He  went  about  doing  good." 

The  ingathering  of  the  heathen  is  yet  a  mystery 
to  the  church — not  something  in  its  nature  inscru- 
table, but  something  that  needs  divine  revelation 
to  make  it  known.  It  is  a  mystery,  I  say,  even  to 
the  church.  As  though  when  it  had  been  hid  from 
ages,  it  had  not  at  length  been  fully  revealed  by 
the  advent  of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There 
is  still  a  grave  misconception  of  the  mission  and 
relation  of  the  church  to  the  outside  world.     JMulti- 


58  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

tudes  around  us  stand  very  much  in  our  eyes  as 
the  Gentiles  stood  to  the  Jews.  We  regard  them 
a  people  to  be  pitied  rather  than  to  be  gathered  in. 
And  we  occupy  our  comfortable  sanctuaries,  as  the 
chosen  people  of  God,  and  think  it  enough  that  the 
outside  world  around  us  are  not  actually  debarred ; 
enough  that  the  way  is  open  to  them ;  enough  that 
the  ancient  ban  of  exclusion  is  taken  off — not  con- 
sidering that  ours  is  a  mission  to  them  of  grace 
and  salvation;  not  considering  that  the  great  work 
of  the  church  is  to  gather  them  into  the  fold. 

Peter's  work  was  shown  in  the  vision  at  Joppa 
to  be  positive  and  aggressive  work.  It  was  not 
merely  a  pictorial  exhibition  in  which  all  the  ani- 
mals clean  and  unclean  were  seen  to  be  herded  to- 
gether promiscuously  and  without  distinction;  but 
there  came  forth  the  commandment  along  with  the 
exhibition,  "Rise,  Peter,  kill  and  eat!"  If  he  re- 
volted, if  his  ancient  prejudices  of  race  and  privi- 
lege demurred  at  this  mixing  with  the  unclean, 
and  at  this  abolishing  of  old  distinction  between 
classes  and  races  of  people,  the  word  came  back  to 
him, — a  conclusive  word,  "What  God  hath  cleansed 
that  call  not  thou  common." 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  Jewish  prejudice  of  ex- 
clusiveness  and  church  privilege  and  prerogative 
were  clinging  yet  to  our  minds,  and  that  yet  an- 
other vision  would  be  necessary  to  make  plain  to 
us  our  duty  to  go  forth  in  our  mission  of  evan- 
gelizing the  outside  masses.  "The  mystery  hid 
from  ages  and  made  known  in  Jesus  Christ"  has 
yet  to  be  reopened  to  the  Christian   church.     It 


CHRIST— THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY.  59 

was  nobly  exemplified  in  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ 
himself  The  grand  duty  of  the  church  is  like  the 
Divine  Master  to  go  about  doing  good. 

Look  at  this  simple  phrase  as  the  definition  and 
description  of  Jesus'  life.  Strange  enough  that 
there  are  two  opposite  characters  representing  the 
spirit  world,  who  are  described  in  the  Scripture  as 
going  about  among  men:  the  one  walking  about 
as  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may  devour; 
and  the  other,  this  Jesus,  going  about  doing  good. 

Through  Galilee  and  through  Judea  this  was  it; 
one  aim,  one  ambition,  nothing  else.  He  was  not 
at  the  ^wedding  at  Cana  simply  to  be  entertained 
as  a  guest;  much  less  to  indulge  even  an  innocent 
recreation  from  his  pressing  cares  and  business; 
least  of  all,  to  vindicate  his  social  claims,  or  to 
keep  up  his  social  position  and  that  of  his  disci- 
ples, with  the  families  of  the  town.  No !  his  hour 
was  coming  to  do  a  grand  work  of  providing  for 
the  family  and  for  the  guests,  and  thus  to  signify 
his  willingness  to  work  wonders  for  our  refresh- 
ment and  satisfaction,  for  body  and  soul  forever. 

And  where  was  he  anywhere  in  any  such  re- 
lation or  condition  as  to  throw  any  doubt  upon 
his  work  of  helping,  healing,  comforting,  saving? 
Where  was  he  ever  seen  in  any  attitude  or  con- 
nection to  cast  a  shadow  upon  the  glory  of  such  a 
life?  When  could  any  one  have  ever  suspected 
that  he  had  any  private  aims  to  subserve  or  any 
sinister,  selfish  objects  to  accomplish  ?  Nay !  all 
those  accusations  and  mean  insinuations  of  his 
being  a  man  gluttonous  and  a  winebibber,  or  of 


60  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

his  wishing  to  make  himself  a  king,  and  of  his 
aiming  to  overthrow  the  nation,  were  only  the 
fabrications  of  their  envy  and  jealousy;  only  the 
assaults  of  sheer  malice  to  get  up  some  popular 
outcry  against  him.  No  man  of  them  who  knew 
him  at  all  was  ever  honest  in  any  such  charge 
against  him.  Never !  You  could  see  his  life  every- 
where disproving  this  whole  batch  of  slanders.  He 
and  his  disciples  stood  ready  to  point  to  those  won- 
derful works  as  the  patent  overpowering  answer 
to  such  shamefaced  invective. 

What  town  or  city  or  village  of  Galilee  and  Ju- 
dea  and  Samaria  even,  was  not  made  glad  by  his 
healing  mercy?  There  was  Capernaum  and  Beth- 
saida  and  Nain  and  Nazareth  and  Samaria  and 
Sychem  and  Bethany  and  Bethlehem  and  Jericho 
and  Jerusalem.  And  there  were  the  outside  coasts 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  He  was  never  resting,  never 
intermitting  his  work.  In  the  house  of  friend  and 
stranger;  by  the  road-side;  in  the  temple  and  at 
the  pool  where  invalids  resorted;  on  the  sea,  on  the 
shore;  by  day,  by  night;  Sabbaths  and  week-days 
— busy,  busy,  busy;  always  at  work — curing  lep- 
ers, healing  blind  and  deaf  and  lame;  casting  out 
devils,  rebuking  fevers,  raising  the  dead.  He  took 
his  sleep  on  the  boat,  upon  the  passage — the  only 
sleep  of  his  we  read  of;  agonized  while  his  disci- 
ples slept  in  Gethsemane ;  talked  with  Moses  and 
Elias  while  his  disciples  were  overpowered  with 
sleep  on  the  Transfiguration  Mount.  Kead  the 
brief  accounts  of  his  work:  "There  came  great 
multitudes  unto  him  and  lie  healed  them  all"     "As 


CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY.  Gl 

many  as  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment  were 
made  whole."  "He  healed  all  manner  of  sickness 
and  all  manner  of  disease,  among  the  people." 
And  here  in  the  text.  "He  went  about  doing 
good  and  healing  all  them  that  were  possessed 
with  the  devil."  The  busiest  man  that  the  Avorld 
ever  saAv  was  this  Jesus. 

And,  secondly,  this  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
precisely  adapted  to  the  masses.  It  carries  upon 
its  very  front  an  invitation  to  the  laboring  classes : 
"Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor." 

We  have  missed  the  sense  of  this  when  we  have 
over-spiritualized  it;  Avhen  we  have  explained  it 
wholly  of  the  inward  soul- troubles  of  men.  And 
then,  at  once,  men  have  been  prone  to  imderstand 
it  of  a  spiiitual  quality  or  condition  prerequisite 
and  meritorious.  And  in  the  absence  of  this  state 
of  mind  and  heart  they  have  thought  there  Avas 
no  hope  for  them.  But  no !  Its  voice  is  to  all 
who  toil  and  worry  and  sweat  under  the  curse — ■ 
that  immense  majority  of  men — the  workmen  and 
laborers  of  every  kind,  whose  cry  is  for  rest  in  all 
their  weariness  and  worn  condition ;  to  whom  his 
own  Sabbaths  ought  to  come  as  a  special  joy. 
And  then  the  masses — the  outside  multitudes — 
these  are  yet  at  our  doors,  under  the  shadow  of 
our  sanctuaries. 

And  this  Gospel  is  precisely  for  them.  It  is  for 
the  poor.  Under  this  economy  of  Christ  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to 
them.  "The  poor,"  he  says,  "ye  have  always  with 
you."     And  this  religion  is  suited  to  such  wants 


62  CHRIST— THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

and  woes  as  poverty  brings.  While  the  poor  are 
standing  aside  and  looking  upon  the  sanctuary  as 
only  for  those  in  easy  circumstances;  while  they 
hold  themselves  to  be  debarred  by  the  usages  of 
Christian  society;  repelling  the  poor  by  failing  to 
invite  them  and  by  failing  to  notice  them  when 
they  come,  as  if  it  was  no  part  of  a  Christian's 
calling  to  consort  Avith  sinners  of  the  Gentiles; — 
all  this  while,  this  very  Gospel  that  we  preach  is 
specially  addressed  to  these  classes  who  are  so 
largely  absent;  who  are  thus  virtually  excluded. 
And  the  full  Gospel  is  best  preached  to  such,  and 
can  not  be  effectively  preached  nor  successfully 
preached  where  such  are  not  found  in  the  con- 
gregation. Where  in  the  sermon  on  the  mount 
it  is  once  said,  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit," 
it  is  again  said,  "  Blessed  be  ye  poor,  for  yours  is 
the  kingdom  of  God." 

And  further,  this  Gospel  is  fitted  for  the  offcast. 
When  we  see  this  Christianity  go  to  the  abject 
and  degraded,  we  see  it  working  in  its  proper 
sphere,  doing  its  greatest  wonders,  and  proving 
its  divine  origin,  as  in  no  other  way. 

We  have  our  genteel  congregations  who  come 
and  go,  who  have  their  pews  as  they  have  their 
houses — all  as  their  private  property.  And  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  matter  is,  that  the  sanctuary 
is  a  sort  of  religious  club-house,  where  persons  in- 
clined to  religious  things  buy  for  themselves  and 
for  their  families  a  place  and  a  partnership  in 
whatever  is  to  be  found  here:  building,  preacher, 
music,  society,  all  their  own.     Others,  for  the  most 


CHRIST— THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY.  G3 

part,  it  is  thought,  are  not  expected,  not  wanted; 
and  though  such  would  not  be  put  out  nor  Irowned 
upon,  but  even  welcomed,  yet  this  is  judged  to  be 
rather  by  constraint  of  Christian  politeness  than 
by  any  zeal  to  do  them  good. 

But  look,  and  see  this  Christianity  where  it  goes 
out  to  the  forlorn  and  wretched  and  offcast,  and 
takes  the  Gospel  to  the  humblest  cot  and  kindly 
commends  this  Jesus  to  the  sorrowing  and  de- 
graded and  lost!  You  see  it  put  gladness  into 
the  darkest  garret;  into  the  foulest,  vilest  pit,  or 
den  of  ■'iniquity.  And  where  it  lifts  up  the  most 
abandoned  of  our  race  and  imparts  to  such  a  new 
nature,  there  it  is  that  Christianity  asserts  its  divine 
power.  And  there  we  see  a  proof  of  it  such  as  no 
argument  of  books,  neither  miracles  nor  prophe- 
cies even,  could  give.  It  is  the  external  and  inter- 
nal evidence  together.  It  is  therefore  in  the  cities 
as  the  centres  of  population  and  of  human  inter- 
ests, where  life  is  teeming  with  busy  energy  in 
good  and  evil,  and  crowded  with  temptations  and 
trials  and  vices;  it  is  here  where  the  masses  con- 
gregate of  various  races  and  pursuits  and  princi- 
ples, and  where  the  throng  is  full  of  cross  purposes 
and  conflicts;  it  is  here  that  this  religion  of  Christ 
comes  in  and  addresses  itself  equally  to  all.  Here 
it  ought  to  reap  its  grandest  harvests,  and  here  it 
ought  to  gather  its  most  splendid  trophies.  So  it 
is  said,  "Jesus  began  to  teach  and  preach  in  tlieir 
cities^ 

All  the  squalor  of  the  hovel,  all  the  revel  and 
riot  of  the  dramshop,  all  the  vile,  profane,  brutish 


64  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

degradation  of  the  promiscuous  crowd,  where  every 
vestige  of  self-respect  is  long  ago  lost  and  noth- 
ing is  left  but  base  indulgence — all  this  is  to  be 
reached  and  lighted  up  and  cheered  and  blessed 
with  this  religion  of  Christ.  No  other  power  in 
the  universe  can  do  it!  And  where  this  Gospel 
goes  out  on  its  path  of  conquest  it  subjugates  the 
stoutest  rebellion,  elevates  the  most  abject  condi- 
tion, and  wins  oyer  the  most  alien  and  hostile 
disposition  to  Christ.  This  is  seen  w^herever  it  is 
fairly  tried. 

Why  then  is  not  this  grand  remedy  for  fallen 
humanity  put  in  utmost  use?  Why  is  the  Gos- 
pel provision  stored  in  the  churches  as  in  bonded 
warehouses  and  not  brought  out  and  distributed 
among  the  multitudes?  Is  it  enough  that  Chris- 
tians furnish  the  church  accommodation  ?  But 
they  have  not  even  done  that.  Must  careless  men 
be  left  to  build  themselves  churches  and  to  sustain 
the  ministry  of  themselves,  on  the  principle  that 
if  they  want  them  they  will  have  them?  What 
if  those  who  need  them  most,  want  them  least? 
You  had  as  well  demand  that  the  fish  in  the  sea 
should  make  themselves  a  fishing-boat  and  net  to 
take  them  in.  And  Christian  ministers  and  Chris- 
tian members  are  fishers  of  men. 

And  it  is  not  enough  to  open  the  sanctuary 
doors,  nor  even  the  doors  of  your  pews.  You  must 
go  out  seeking,  inviting,  urging  them  to  come  in. 
This  we  have  not  done.  The  net  is  not  to  be  kept 
in  the  boat.  It  is  to  be  cast  out,  and  cast  out  in 
the  deep  and  on  the  right  side  of  the  ship. 


CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY.  65 

I  take  it  that  just  here  is  the  shameful  neglect 
of  our  churches.  And  the  ground  of  their  great 
inefficiency  is  this:  the  Gospel  that  is  made  for 
the  masses  and  meant  for  the  masses,  does  not 
go  to  the  masses,  simply  because  the  church  mem- 
bership does  not  go  out  among  the  masses  with 
proper  zeal  and  tact  to  gather  them  in. 

First,  then,  I  say  the  "going  about"  is  to  be 
done  after  the  pattern  of  the  Master.  He  did  not 
sit  in  state  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  and  wait 
for  the  people  to  seek  him  out,  else  neither  Zac- 
cheus  the  rich  man,  nor  Bartimeus  the  blind  beg- 
gar, nor  thousands  of  others,  would  have  been 
reached.  He  went  out  seeking  as  well  as  saving 
the  lost. 

And  here  it  is  that  pure  religion  finds  its  prac- 
tical definition,  in  the  church  as  well  as  in  the 
Scripture,  "Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God 
and  the  Father "  is  this.  What  is  it  ?  To  visit — 
to  visit.  It  is  not  as  if  a  mere  fashionable  visit- 
ing could  be  meant,  but  to  go  about  and  find  out 
the  distressed,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows 
in  their  affliction;  to  go  in  search  of  the  forlorn 
and  careless  and  bring  them  into  the  churches. 

I  know  the  difficulties.  You  are  disinclined  to 
visiting,  or  you  have  a  large  circle  of  your  own,  or 
you  are  doubtful  how  you  would  be  received  by 
strangers  on  any  religious  errand,  or  you  think  it 
would  be  forwardness  or  presumption  on  your  part, 
or  you  think  of  others  who  could  do  it  better; 
and  for  one  reason  or  another,  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  church  members  excuse  themselves 
5 


GQ  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

and  scarcely  charge  their  mmds  with  any  such 
duty. 

EHsha  the  prophet  went  outside  of  Israel  to  the 
poor  widoAv  of  Shunem.  She  was  in  great  trouble. 
There  was  a  hard-hearted  creditor  threatening  her 
for  his  pay.  She  had  nothing  left  in  the  house 
but  her  cruse  of  oil.  And  the  prophet  made  that 
cruse  of  oil  go  so  far  that  it  tilled  all  the  ves- 
sels she  could  get  from  her  neighbors,  and  lo ! 
by  means  of  his  visit  the  poor  widow  was  rich 
enough  in  oil  to  pay  her  debt.  Christianity  does 
this  very  thing;  makes  our  little  go  so  far.  It 
increases  our  scanty  supply;  multiplies  our  few 
loaves  to  a  livelihood. 

What  multitudes  of  our  own  city  are  living  out- 
side of  our  sanctuaries,  little  cared  for  or  looked 
after;  and  what  an  account  have  we  to  render 
for  these !  The  church  is  asleep  to  the  astound- 
ing facts,  and  yet  the  very  special  province  of 
the  church  is  this  aggressive  work  among  the  out- 
side multitudes. 

And  the  proper  power  of  the  church  is  seen  in 
this  very  work  of  ingathering. 

Some  one  was  curious  to  know  how  Mr.  Spur- 
geon  was  ever  able  to  fill  his  immense  tabernacle 
with  a  steady  crowd  of  five  or  six  thousand  hear- 
ers. Naturally  enough  he  was  written  to,  to  tell 
the  great  secret  of  filling  the  church.  He  an- 
swered, "  My  members  fill  the  church,  not  I.  It  is 
by  their  bringing  in  others.  It  is  their  success  not 
mine.  They  back  me  up,"  he  says,  "through  the 
week  they  invite  others  to  their  pews,  they  seek 


CHRIST— THE    H:)EAL    MISSIONARY.  07 

out  new-comers,  they  bring  in  new  church-goers." 
I  asked  him,  liow  he  ever  succeeded  in  visiting  liis 
tliirty-five  hundred  members.  He  said,  "I  don't 
visit  them,  except  in  actual  necessities.  My  elders 
do  the  bulk  of  the  visiting,  and  they  inform  me 
of  the  cases  that  require  my  personal  attention." 
But  then  came  the  question,  how  his  elders  could 
command  the  time;  and  the  only  answer  was, 
"They  doit." 

I  ask  now,  would  it  not  be  a  sweet  relief  from 
the  constant  rush  and  pressure  of  business  cares  to 
make  a  visit  or  two  a  day  for  the  church  and  for 
Christ.  There  are  difficulties,  I  grant  it;  but  the 
cry  is  commonly,  "  I  am  too  busy."  Must  God, 
then,  spoil  a  man's  business  and  break  him  up  and 
set  him  high  and  dry  with  nothing  to  do  in  order 
to  get  from  him  some  service  for  the  church?  The 
charge  of  Christ  in  the  parable,  "occupy  till  I 
come"  means  "Do  business  till  I  come."  Is  not 
this  verily  one's  business?  Is  your  own  secular 
business,  as  you  call  it,  to  be  put  before  the  busi- 
ness of  Christ  ?  ]\Iust  the  church  die  out  and  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  fail  in  a  community,  be- 
cause the  men,  both  officers  and  members,  are  too 
busy  to  give  it  attention  ? 

Is  there  any  fair  reason  why  every  sitting-place 
in  every  one  of  our  sanctuaries  should  not  be  filled, 
except  the  people  outside  think  they  are  not  want- 
ed in  the  sanctuary;  that  they  will  not  be  wel- 
comed by  the  pew-holders,  or  will  not  be  respected 
among  the  worshippers — who  seem  inclined  to  have 
it  all  to  themselves  ?     ^lean while  the  thousands  of 


68  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

families  stay  away,  and  religion  declines,  and  the 
blessed  Gospel  of  Jesns  Christ  is  charged  with  in- 
efficiency. The  merchant  would  issue  his  circulars 
and  send  out  his  travelling  agents,  if  he  saw  his 
business  falling  off  or  his  custom  declining.  Oh, 
yes !  and  every  one  knows  this,  and  it  is  the  testi- 
mony we  have  heard  fi'om  a  great  worker  in  city 
missions,  that  the  Sabbath  congregations  of  mis- 
sion chapels  are  just  in  proportion  to  the  visits  of 
the  week;  and  it  is  commonly  so  in  the  churches. 
And  if  members  are  remiss  in  Christian  sociabili- 
ties the  church  suffers,  and  the  fault  is  simply  that 
of  carelessness,  inacti^4ty,  sluggishness,  or  coldness 
in  the  life-cuiTents  of  the  body. 

Some  minister  has  lately  said  that  so  far  as  his 
experience  goes,  the  church  fails  in  the  city  from 
the  absorption  of  the  men  in  business,  and  from  the 
absorption  of  the  women  in  pleasure.  It  is  not 
quite  so  in  all  cases.  Dr.  James  Hamilton  of 
London  speaks  of  the  heartless  industries  that  so 
absorb  attention.  He  means  the  mere  mechanical. 
Women  as  well  as  men  fail  in  church  duties  from 
over-attention  to  business.  Martha  is  careful  and 
troubled  about  routine  work  of  the  household,  and 
Mary  sits  still  in  the  house  at  Christ's  feet.  It  is 
the  charge  of  the  household  which,  in  some  cases, 
seems  to  make  it  impossible  to  do  any  thing  out  of 
doors;  but  could  not  some  time  be  rescued  for  this 
Christian  work?  Would  not  the  incessant  watch 
and  worry  of  the  housekeeping  be  relieved  by  step- 
ping aside  daily  to  look  in  upon  others  for  Christ  ? 

And  then,  too,  much  time  and  labor  might  be 


CHRIST— THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY.  69 

saved  for  the  church  if  the  costly  alabaster  boxes 
of  precious  ointment  were  broken  upon  the  head 
and  feet  of  Jesus.  The  recourse  is  now  to  employ 
suitable  men  and  w^omen  for  visitors ;  and  this,  at 
least,  the  chm-ch  could  do.  The  missionary  alter- 
native is  go  or  send;  but  no  substitute  can  alto- 
gether release  the  principal  from  his  or  her  ap- 
propriate work.  And  the  members  are  better  as 
volunteer  visitors,  than  any  who  could  be  sent  as 
employees — if  only  the  members  have  a  heart  for 
their  work. 

And  it  is  not  merely  going  about;  but  it  is 
going  about  daing  good  that  is  requisite.  Offices 
of  Christian  kindness  which  bring  a  practical  Chris- 
tianity in  contact  with  men,  bring  it  to  the  bedside 
of  the  sick  and  to  the  hut  and  hovel  of  the  desti- 
tute, and  which  penetrate  even  to  the  dark  dens 
of  iniquity,  reaching  out  this  salvation  to  the 
lost. 

This  is  the  Christianity  that  is  needed  to  do  the 
work  of  the  church.  Take  the  church  to  the  thou- 
sands who  will  not  come  to  the  church,  and  so  the 
church  becomes  filled  and  swarming  with  those 
who  have  had  the  practical  proof  of  its  value.  It 
is  easy  to  say,  "Be  ye  warmed ! "  and  "Be  ye 
filled ! "  without  opening  the  hand  to  supply  the 
want.  There  are  a  thousand  questions  that  are 
naturally  raised  in  the  mere  matter  of  formal  vis- 
iting, even  where  it  is  for  the  best  Christian  pur- 
poses; but  where  it  is  mixed  with  Christian  benefi- 
cence— where  a  lively  Christian  sympathy  goes 
along  with   the    call,   and   a  hearty  desire   to   do 


70  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

good  is  manifest,  there  goes  tlie  mighty  power  of 
Christian  example  and  persuasion  of  a  Christian 
life.  Therefore  the  Christian  visiting  that  is  given 
as  the  first  part  of  the  inspired  definition  of  true 
Christianity  is  joined  with  the  most  important  prac- 
tical requisite — for  the  visitor  himself  to  keep  him- 
self unspotted  from  the  world.  A  man's  efforts  to 
do  good  to  others  ought  to  be  sustained  by  his 
own  solid  Christian  character.  May  not  this  be  a 
reason  why  so  many  hold  back  from  any  thing 
active  and  positive  and  aggressive  in  the  church ; 
that  they  are  conscious  themselves  of  inconsisten- 
cies and  contradictions  of  character,  and  of  being 
not  unspotted. 

Plain  enough  is  it  then,  that  what  the  church 
needs,  to  be  an  effective  and  successful  agency  for 
Christ  in  the  world,  is  to  go  out  into  the  world  and 
not  seclude  itself;  not  shut  itself  up  from  contact 
and  sympathy  and  communion  with  the  outside 
multitude ;  but  to  circulate,  to  visit  the  needy  and 
neglected  and  distressed,  and  to  be  in  all  its  mem- 
bership an  example  of  purity  and  piety,  diffus- 
ing the  influence  of  a  holy  life,  and  evincing  a 
heartiness  in  every  good  word  and  work.  What 
if  every  family  in  the  church  should  charge  itself 
with  the  responsibility  of  always  having  another 
family  under  its  care — to  bring  into  the  sanctuary 
and  lead  to  Christ  ?  This  going  about  doing  good 
can  never  be  accomplished  by  staying  in  the  house 
and  living  to  one's  self,  careless  of  others'  wants 
and  ignorant  of  the  necessities  around. 

You  ask  how  you  can  do  any  thing.     You  think 


CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY.  71 

only  of  working  by  societies  or  committees.  You 
think  of  the  great  city  and  can  not  see  how  you 
are  to  reach  the  masses.  Begin  witii  your  own 
family,  your  domestics  and  dependents,  and  your 
own  neighborhood.  You  will  not  go  far  till  you 
will  find  some  one  to  be  helped  and  led  to  Christ. 
Work  for  the  Sabbath-school.  Make  an  effort  with 
the  neglected  boys  on  the  streets  to  gather  them 
in.  Families  are  reached  by  this  means.  "  To  do 
good  and  to  communicate  forget  not,  for  with  such 
sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased."  Benevolence  is  the 
popular  word,  but  beneficence  is  the  true  word.  We 
ought  to  have  gotten  past  the  mere  weU-ivilling 
and  even  ivell-iuisking  that  falls  short  of  well-doing. 
That  is  a  failure.  It  is  beneficence  that  is  called  for 
as  the  proper  fruit  of  benevolence^  and  need  I  say, 
that  such  beneficence  is  a  blessing  to  the  doer  him- 
self Just  as  the  overflow  of  the  fountain  purges 
it;  just  as  the  giving  of  a  light  to  another  from 
your  own  lamp  in  the  midnight  doubles  the  hght 
that  shines  around  your  own  path. 

And  a  city  which  cares  nothing  for  evangelizing 
the  masses,  reaps  an  awful  reward  in  the  ram- 
pant vice,  the  corruption  of  public  morals,  the  rob- 
bery, fraud  and  murder  which  infest  the  commu- 
nity, and  make  the  city  a  hell  on  earth.  And 
where  the  church  is  satisfied  with  elegant  propri- 
eties of  worship,  and  is  not  hard  at  work  reclaim- 
ing the  masses  to  Christ,  the  plagues  which  God 
will  visit  on  the  city  and  the  land  will  come  up 
into  our  windows,  and  vice  will  threaten  to  break 
in  at  our  doors,  and  it  will  require   a  miracle  to 


72  CHRIST — THE    IDEAL    MISSIONARY. 

save  US  from  the  fiery  judgment  that  comes  rain- 
ing down  from  heaven. 

And  an  active  church,  a  working  church,  a  so- 
ciable church,  is  a  successful  church.  It  is  the 
definition  of  true  religion,  therefore,  because  it 
is  the  definition  of  Jesus'  life  among  men.  "  He 
went  about  doing  good."  And  he  lives  most  and 
best  for  Jesus,  and  he  attains  most  surely  to  his 
glory  and  reward,  of  whom  it  may  be  said  by  the 
living  at  his  death,  and  written  by  beholders,  for 
his  epitaph,  "  He  went  about  doing  good." 


V. 

THE  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE   MANIFESTATION. 

"Judas  saith  unto  him,  not  Iscariot,  Lord,  how  is  it  that  thou 
wilt  manifest  thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto  the  world  ?  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  him.  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my 
words :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him, 
and  make  our  abode  with  him." — ^JOHN  xiv.  22-23. 

There  are  laws  in  grace,  as  there  are  laws  in 
nature.  I  love  to  think  of  this  natural  world,  as 
so  constructed  as  to  symbolize  and  shadow  forth 
the  higher  realm  of  grace.  I  love  to  think  of  our 
adorable  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Creator  of  this 
loAver  framework  of  material  things,  by  which  he 
would  illustrate  the  higher  department  of  spiritual 
things — using  the  earthly  to  exhibit  the  heavenly. 
So  that  when  he  caifie  to  his  own,  he  made  the 
rose  and  lily  to  speak,  and  the  field  and  the  vine 
to  stand  forth,  as  pictorial  images  of  something 
belonging  to  the  soul;  and  even  making  our  com- 
mon bodily  sicknesses  the  avenue  by  which  he 
reached  our  deeper  spiritual  wants. 

God  has  been  pleased  to  manifest  himself  in 
places  devoted  to  his  worship.  To  the  fallen  pair, 
though  not  in  Eden,  yet  at  the  gate,  he  dwelt  be- 
tween the  cherubim.     At  the  altar  of  sacrifice  he 


74  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

displayed  himself  in  response  to  the  offering  there. 
At  the  Tabernacle  and  in  the  Temple,  he  revealed 
himself  in  the  Shekinah — the  luminous  cloud  of 
the  visible  presence  resting  over  the  mercy-seat. 
And  in  the  synagogue  and  in  the  Christian  sanc- 
tuary he  has  appointed  to  be  approached,  and  by 
signal  manifestations  all  down  the  ages  he  has  made 
the  place  of  his  feet  glorious.  Not  now,  as  of  old, 
confined  to  any  exclusive  seat,  for  gorgeous  cere- 
monial and  for  a  whole  nation's  assemblage.  Not 
now  preferring  even  the  grand  cathedral,  amidst 
the  lavishment  of  wealth  and  the  embellishments 
of  aesthetic  offerings.  But  bound  by  great  moral 
laws,  operating  everywhere  the  same,  and  equally 
on  earth  as  in  heaven — laws  which  reach  down  to 
the  heart's  depths,  and  which  estimate  the  exter- 
nals of  worship  only  as  they  are  the  expressions 
of  inward  devotion.  But  not  to  all  alike,  in  any 
worshipping  assembly,  does  God  manifest  himself. 
The  sun  shines  for  all,  yet  not  so  as  to  reach  and 
gladden  those  who  hide  themselves  in  garrets  and 
cellars,  or  who  bandage  their  eyes  rather  than  be 
beholden  to  the  light  of  day. 

Here,  in  our  text,  a  profound  truth  is  touched, 
by  this  inquiry  of  Judas.  And  when  it  is  noti- 
fied, that  this  Judas  is  not  the  Judas  Iscariot,  but 
another  and  opposite  Judas — a  friend,  and  not  a 
foe — the  question  has  its  highest  significance  from 
the  contrast.  "  Lord,  hoiv  is  it  that  thou  wilt  man- 
ifest thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto  the  world  ?  " 

What  is  the  laic  of  the  divine  manifestation? 
Here  is  a  mind,  laboring  with  the  deepest  prob- 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  75 

lems  of  Gospel  grace,  as  they  stand  related  to  the 
divine  sovereignty,  and  to  the  human  volition  and 
action.  Here  is  a  man,  moved  to  the  depths  by 
the  question,  how  it  is  that  so  large  a  proportion 
of  his  fellow-men  have  no  conception  of  the  Gos- 
pel, though  living  under  its  blaze.  How  is  it  ?  he 
asks.  There  are  doubtless  these  two  great  classes 
of  men  in  all  the  ages — the  disciplesMp,  and  the 
outside  world!  And  the  case  with  these,  respect- 
ively, as  to  the  divine  manifestation,  is  opposite, 
the  one  to  the  other.  And  the  momentous  ques- 
tion is  here  propounded  to  the  Master  himself — 
Hoiv  is  it?  Is  it  a  matter  to  be  referred  simply 
and  only  to  the  divine  will,  and  the  divine  decree 
— as  wholly  arbitrary  with  God  ?  Is  it  simply  to 
say,  that  to  one  man  God  pleases  to  reveal  himself, 
and  not  to  another  ?  Men  so  caricature  the  divine 
fore-ordination^  which  is  everywhere  taught  in  the 
Scripture,  and  which  is  essential  to  the  very  idea 
of  God;  and  then  with  a  partial  and  one-sided 
statement  of  the  matter,  they  denounce  the  divine 
prerogative  as  a  sheer  outrage. 

But  there  is  a  human  side  as  well  as  a  divine  side 
of  the  matter,  and  the  over-statement  of  either  is 
a  misstatement^  and  it  is  only  the  half  truth.,  which 
becomes  falsehood. 

The  divine  fore-ordination  is  set  forth  in  the 
Bible  as  a  comfort  to  the  people  of  God,  and  not 
anywhere  as  any  discouragement  to  any  other 
creature.  They  who  love  God  are  addressed  and 
spoken  of  as  elect  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  and  it  is  an  infinite  comfort  to  such.     Is  it 


76  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

any  thing  repulsive  to  the  wife  to  be  told  by  the 
husband  that  he  had  always  loved  her  from  the 
hrst  sight  of  her  in  childhood?     Xo. 

But  there  is  no  man  who  is  not  fi*eely  invited 
to  all  the  benefits  of  this  election.  And  nothing 
is  required  of  any  man  but  his  own  election  of 
these  benefits,  correspondmg  and  responsive  to  the 
divine  election  of  himself.  Pause  here,  and  hsten 
to  the  profound  and  beautiful  answer  li'om  the  lips 
of  Jesus  himself — and  see  how  it  is.  And  if  there 
be  a  creature  under  the  whole  heaven  who  can 
take  exception  to  this  law,  as  any  severity  of  God, 
let  him  speak. 

This  divine  manifestation  to  one  man  and  not 
to  another,  is  here  referred  in  the  text,  first  of  aZZ, 
to  the  human  taste  and  inclination. 

Jesus'  answer  to  the  question  of  how  it  is,  is 
this;  ''If  a  man  Jove  me^  he  will  keep  my  word." 

Yes  I  If  a.  man  love  me.  And  this  eveiy  where, 
naturally  and  necessarily,  conditions  the  whole  case. 
Take  any  thing  that  is  to  be  manifested.  There 
is,  for  example,  in  our  great  city,  the  glorious  pic- 
tm-e  of  the  Yosemite,  or  the  "  Heart  of  the  Andes." 
It  is  on  public  exhibition.  And  the  advertisement 
is  blazoned  in  the  public  prints,  and  it  is  hmig  over 
the  door-icay  of  the  hall,  and  it  is  even  thnist  out 
upon  the  path  of  the  passer-by.  It  is  on  exhibi- 
tion free.  But  what  cares  the  rushmg  throng? 
'•  One  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise  I  " 
Few  pause,  and  enter  in  I  It  is  matter  of  taste  and 
incHnation.  The  picture  is  there.  It  is  there  on 
free  exhibition.     Whosoever  will,  may  come  and 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  77 

see.  But  only  here  and  there  does  any  one  turn 
aside  from  his  common  business  to  enjoy  the  spec- 
tacle, ^^li' Si  m8.n  love  painting.''  That  is  the  point ! 
If  he  have  a  taste  for  high  art.  If  the  glowing 
colors  on  the  canvas  have  a  power  to  reach  his 
soul  and  to  put  him  into  delicious  communion 
with  nature — so  as  to  ravish  his  sense  and  bring 
him  into  that  sweet  bondage  to  the  high  ideal — if 
this  be  so — tJieii  this  is  the  inward  condition  that 
controls  the  result.  This  is  the  susceptibility  that 
is  wrought  upon,  and  charmed,  and  captivated, 
and  without  ^vhich,  that  glowing  canvas  would 
be  to  the  eye  only  as  an  idle  tale. 

Take  a  different  man  into  the  presence  of  that 
masterpiece.  What  is  that  to  him  ?  He  has  no 
taste  for  any  such  manifestation  of  nature's  beau- 
ties, as  wrought  by  the  pencil  of  the  artist,  and 
he  turns  away  to  the  gratification  of  lower  pas- 
sions, or  to  the  dull,  mechanical  routine  of  his  daily 
life. 

In  the  personal  matter  of  the  text,  the  key  to 
the  situation  is  just  the  inward  taste  which  decides 
the  affinity.  This  is  the  divine  statement.  "If 
a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  word." 

And  this  the  natural  and  necessary  law  of  ac- 
tion. The  word,  written  and  preached,  is  the  rev- 
elation of  God  in  Scripture — as  the  personal  word 
is  the  revelation  of  God  in  our  nature.  Each  is, 
in  its  way,  an  incarnation.  And  the  glory  of  the 
Scripture,  wherein  it  is  living  and  powerful,  is  that 
the  God  incarnate  shines  through  the  page,  and 
gleams   upon  our  view  in  all   the   living  record. 


78  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

To  say  then  (as  Jesus  here  says,  in  explaining 
his  manifestation),  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep 
my  ivord,''  is  only  to  say,  that  the  personal  af- 
finity will  decide  the  action  of  the  man,  in  mak- 
ing him  attentive  to  the  word  of  the  one  whom 
he  loves — in  making  him  cherish  it,  and  follow  it 
in  his  living. 

And  this  word  of  Scripture  is  itself  a  medium 
of  the  divine  manifestation.  He  looks  here  just  as 
he  puts  his  eye  to  the  glass  of  the  stereoscope,  to 
find  the  picture  in  its  rounded,  lifelike  proportions. 

What,  then,  if  the  picture  on  exhibition  be  that 
of  "Christ  Healing  the  Sick,"  or  of  Raphael's  "Dres- 
den Madonna?"  Then  it  is  also  a  question  of  the 
subject.  What  is  the  man's  taste,  and  how  will  it 
lead  him  ?  That  Madonna,  world-renowned,  has  a 
separate  chamber  in  the  great  gallery  at  Dresden. 
Will  you  enter  in  and  see  it  there  ?  If  a  man  love 
Jesus,  he  will  gaze  with  a  very  special  interest  and 
rapture  upon  whatever  reveals  him,  and  even  upon 
these  triumphs  of  art,  because  they  aim  to  deline- 
ate the  glories  of  his  Friend  and  Saviour.  And  for 
the  same  reason,  and  if  he  have  this  personal  love, 
he  will  study  the  Scripture,  and  receive  the  mes- 
sages of  God's  word  in  the  sanctuary,  and  find 
himself  in  personal  communion  with  the  beloved 
object. 

I  have  seen  American  travellers  in  the  Holy 
Land,  caring  nothing  for  Bethlehem,  and  Naza- 
reth, and  Jerusalem,  and  longing  to  get  back  to 
the  opera-houses  and  theatres  in  Paris  and  Milan, 
heeding  not  the  footprints  of  Jesus,  or  the  sacred 


DIVINK    MANIFESTATION.  79 

memorials  and  monuments  of  his  life  and  death. 
You  can  see  the  same  taste  here  around  you  and 
even  amongst  the  Sabbath  assembly. 

So  I  have  seen  men,  to  whose  eye  all  the  gran- 
deurs of  the  Yosemite  were  nothing  at  all;  to 
whom  that  stupendous  display  of  God's  majesty 
and  creative  power  was  only  a  dull  and  toilsome 
sight — who  would  stop  on  the  way  to  the  Vernal 
Fall  to  fish  in  the  stream,  rather  than  go  on  to 
gaze  at  the  beauties  that  God  has  so  concentrated 
in  that  fall  itself 

If  you  ask,  tlien,  how  it  is  that  Jesus  will  mani- 
fest himself  to  his  disciples  and  not  unto  the  world : 
if  you  will  know  the  philosophy  of  this  distinc- 
tion in  so  momentous  a  matter,  I  protest,  that  you 
shall  not  charge  it  upon  the  mere  sovereign  decree 
of  God,  to  display  himself  to  one  man  rather  than 
to  another,  as  though  there  were  no  human  side 
to  the  case.  Come  here  to  the  plain  matter  of 
fact,  and  to  the  human  aspect  of  it  all,  and  see  how 
it  is  determined  by  your  own  tastes  and  likings. 

Moral  beauty  can  not  display  itself  to  depraved 
tastes,  so  as  to  be  appreciated.  There  can  not 
be  any  compulsion  of  love.  Your  tastes  are  all 
worldly,  and  not  at  all  spiritual  and  heavenly. 
Then  you  do  not,  in  such  inward  condition,  afibrd 
any  susceptibility  to  the  glories  of  Christ,  however 
fully  they  may  be  revealed.  It  is  the  light  shin- 
ing in  another  sphere — or  rather,  it  is  the  light 
shining  in  the  darkness,  and  the  darkness  compre- 
hending it  not.  No  eye  for  that.  Blind  to  that 
kind  of  beauty.     The  fish  in  the  mammoth  cave 


80  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

have  no  eyes,  because  their  habitat  is  darkness. 
It  is  simply  in  your  breast,  a  cloud  so  thick,  so 
impenetrable  by  the  noonday  sun,  as  that  no  im- 
pression is  made  upon  it,  any  more  th'an  if  the  sun 
had  never  shone  to  gladden  the  earth  with  his 
beams.  The  colors  in  the  most  beautiful  flowers 
are  not  essential  and  inherent  qualities.  They  are 
only  the  rays  of  the  common  sunlight,  Avhich  that 
flower  absorbs  by  its  own  peculiar  texture. 

What  now,  should  one  complain,  if,  at  the  great 
Handel  Festival,  he  should  find  no  pleasure,  sim- 
ply because  he  had  no  taste  for  classic  music,  had 
not  cared  for  it  nor  cultivated  it  ?  Or  if  he  would 
not  even  look  over  the  programme,  and  get  the 
grand  ideas  of  the  oratorio — the  "Messiah,"  or  the 
"Creation" — and  should  feel  no  sympathy  with  the 
performance,  because  he  could  not  enter  at  all  into 
the  music  or  the  sentiment?  Ask  then,  amongst 
the  auditors,  "  How  is  it  that  there  the  great  Han- 
del manifests  himself  to  some,  and  not  to  others?" 
If  a  man  love  the  art  and  the  subject,  then  it  is 
all  to  him  a  splendid  manifestation.  But  if  he  has 
a  taste  only  for  the  song  of  the  brothel,  and  for  the 
low  bacchanal,  then  we  readily  understand  how  it 
is,  that  in  all  that  grand  performance  of  such  mas- 
terpieces, there  is  no  manifestation  to  him. 

That  wonderful  statue  of  the  "Dead  Christ,"  by 
Bernini,  at  Rome.  You  may  go  down  into  the 
crypt  of  St.  John  Lateran,  and  you  shall  see  noth- 
ing. All  is  darkness.  But  if  the  guide  go  along 
with  you,  with  his  torch  in  hand,  some  will  see,  in 
the  light  of  that  manifestation,  only  the  exquisite 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  81 

marble  form,  almost  transparent.  But  to  the  lover 
of  Jesus,  it  is  the  form  of  his  best  friend,  and  there^ 
as  nowhere  else  in  all  the  world,  either  in  painting 
or  in  statuaVy,  he  can  see  the  dead  Christ  in  the 
arms  of  his  mother!  0,  what  a  manifestation  I 
But  only  in  those  conditions. 

Look  now  at  the  holy  scene  where,  in  the  sanctu- 
ary, Jesus  especially  manifests  himself  to  the  church 
as  he  does  not  to  the  world.  It  is  the  peculiar, 
chosen  spot  of  divine  manifestation.  It  is  Geth- 
semane,  Calvary,  and  the  garden  sepulchre  of  Ari- 
mathea,  all  together,  in  one  blaze  of  splendid,  glo- 
rious revelation.  What  a  table !  What  a  feast ! 
How  is  it,  that  it  is  to  only  a  portion,  and  a  small 
portion  of  the  public  worshippers,  that  Jesus  man- 
ifests himself  there — that  to  so  many  it  is  noth- 
ing but  the  bits  of  bread,  and  the  common  cup — 
the  humblest,  most  empty  and  unattractive  of  all 
earthly  entertainments  ?  And  hoio  is  it  ?  hoiv  is  it^ 
that  to  a  few  it  is  the  most  hallowed  spot  of 
heavenly  friendships,  where  God  and  Christ  come 
down  to  be  guests  of  the  poor  sinner;  and  yet  the 
table  is  the  Lord's  own,  and  without  any  parallel 
this  side  of  heaven — grander  and  more  glorious 
than  any  banquet  of  kings?     How  is  it?     Hoiv? 

Look  at  the  two  Judases  at  the  first  Supper! 
One  of  them  (the  Iscariot)  nursing  in  his  heart 
the  bloody  thought  of  a  traitor  to  his  master,  see- 
ing in  the  Lord  Jesus  only  a  victim  for  his  base 
designs;  his  depraved  vision  veiled  to  all  his  glo- 
ries. And  the  other  Judas  (not  Iscariot),  clinging 
to  his  Lord  with  all  the  devotion  of  love,  and  be- 


82  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

holding  him  in  all  his  fond  manifestations  at  the 
table.  How  is  it?  What  can  explain  the  phe- 
nomena— that  make  these  men  of  the  same  circle, 
and  of  the  same  name,  the  veriest  opposites?  I 
tell  you  it  is  all  a  matter  of  taste!  Judas  Iscar- 
iot's  judgment  of  the  alabaster  box  betrays  him  as 
the  thief  that  he  is.  And  this  inquiry  of  the  oth- 
er Judas  discovers  in  him  the  yearning  for  the 
world's  well-being,  which  proves  his  true  disci- 
pleship. 

Yes.  I  tell  you  it  is  all  a  matter  of  taste.  And 
you  have  not  the  taste  for  any  such  manifesta- 
tion, nor  the  appetite  for  any  such  feast  of  Christ! 
Pity!  Pity.  A  thousand  times,  pity !  If  one  have 
no  taste  for  the  good,  no  taste  for  the  beautiful,  no 
fondness  for  knowledge,  no  relish  for  the  truth,  no 
affinity  for  moral  excellence,  then  he  is,  by  this 
very  constitution  of  things,  ruled  out  of  the  sphere 
of  all  highest  and  purest  enjoyments. 

It  is  nothing  arbitrary  with  God.  No.  It  is  no 
naked  decree  of  divine  election,  without  any  re- 
sponsive election,  or  corresponding  choice  in  the 
human  breast !  No  !  For  love  is  just  that  quality 
and  exercise  of  soul  that  can  not  possibly  admit 
of  compulsion.  And  hence  the  law  of  the  divine 
manifestation  is  perfectly  natural  and  simple,  and 
determined  by  the  very  necessity  of  things,  and 
not  a  matter  of  mere  decrees  with  which  we  have 
nothing  to  do.  No !  It  is  the  same  great  law  as 
governs  every  manifestation  of  moral  excellence 
in  all  the  universe — for  angels,  for  devils,  for  time 
and  for  eternity.     The   law  is  fair  and  beautiful 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  83 

and  true  and  good.  Do  you  ask  again,  How  it  is? 
Jesus  gives  the  answer.  "If  a  man  love  me,  he 
will  keep  my  words,  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
and  we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode 
with  him."  Take  if  you  please,  the  manifestation 
of  God  in  nature — where  the  great  questions  come 
'to  view  at  the  threshold  of  all  created  things. 
Is  there  a  God — a  personal  Creator  and  Ruler  of 
the  universe?  I  ask,  Is  this  a  question  of  pure 
reason?  Nmj^  but  of  the  disposition  also.  The 
heart  rebels  against  the  creative  claims.  Men  call 
lor  laws  of  nature,  orders,  processes,  forces,  inani- 
mate and  impersonal  agencies — and  make  the  uni- 
verse mere  machine  work,  without  a  machinist,  so 
as  to  escape  the  personal  responsibility  to  a  per- 
sonal intelligent  cause.  Jesus  says,  "If  a  man 
love  me."  Oh,  yes!  Then  nothing  is  so  beautiful 
as  God  in  nature,  and  everywhere  is  seen  his  foot- 
print, and  everywhere  is  heard  the  hymning  of 
his  praise.  But  if  a  man  love  me  not!  Oh,  then, 
nothing  is  so  welcome  as  to  displace  God  from  his 
own  universe,  and  to  get  rid  of  the  very  idea  of 
God. 

Take  also,  for  example,  the  manifestation  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  God.  Is  this  a  thing  of  the  reason  alone, 
or  even  of  revelation  alone  ?  No !  But  also  a  mat- 
ter of  the  taste  and  disposition.  The  man  who  has 
in  his  soul  no  appreciation  of  the  God-man — Avho 
has  in  his  sense  of  need  no  necessity  for  a  divine 
Saviour — he  can  not  readily  accredit  him  as  divine, 
can  not  entertain  the  idea  of  his  divinity,  can  not 
find  any  place  for  it  in  his  sphere  of  thought,  can 


84  THE    LAW    OF   THE 

not  receive  and  accept  such  a  being  in  his  personal 
relations.  And  the  Unitarian  Creed,  as  it  was,  and 
is,  with  the  Jews,  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  self-right- 
eousness or  a  self-expiation,  that  discards  the  great 
truth  of  a  divine  provision  for  men.  If  the  neces- 
sity of  our  case  be  finite,  and  not  infinite,  then  the 
Saviour  and  the  salvation  must  be  finite  also. 

But  there  is  a  further  step  in  this  law  of  the  di- 
vine manifestation.  The  law  is  throughout  a  law 
of  moral  harmonies  in  advancing  operation.  It  is 
the  common  and  universal  law  of  personal  affini- 
ties in  the  actual  progression.  The  man  who  in- 
clines to  God  finds  God  inclined  to  him.  It  is 
infinitely  mutual.  The  spring-tide  sun  draws  out 
the  violet  from  the  sod,  and  so  also  the  violet 
draws  the  sun,  and  receives  his  beams  in  beautiful 
manifestation  of  rainbow  tints  upon  its  bosom. 

But  note  the  law  of  progress  here.  Observe. 
This  keeping  of  Christ's  word,  as  published  in 
the  Scripture  and  in  the  sanctuary,  is  that  con- 
dition of  things  in  tvJiich  the  Father  shows  himself 
as  infinitely  loving  to  such,  and  in  which  he  draws 
near  to  such,  in  expressions  of  personal  love.  This 
is  the  higher,  closer  manifestation  that  may  be  said 
to  be  naturally  conditioned  upon  the  former.  Here 
occurs  a  fuller  intimacy  through  the  word — a  per- 
sonal communion  through  the  written  and  inspired 
communication.  Just  as  letters  from  a  distant  and 
beloved  friend  awaken  all  the  tenderest  sympa- 
thies, and  draw  out  the  inmost  soul  in  response, 
and  the  affection  comes  to  be  agloAV,  and  the 
friendship  is  cemented  on  both  sides.     So,  such  a 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  85 

heart  as  is  responsive  to  God's  word  of  revealed 
love  finds  God  exhibiting  himself  more  and  more 
in  that  love,  and  entering  in  more  fully  to  the 
chambers  of  the  soul  as  a  guest.  If  a  man  love 
me,  then  it  follows  that  he  will  keep  my  word  as 
it  is  delivered  to  him;  then^  by  the  same  law  of 
manifestation,  it  furtlier  follows  that  the  Father 
will  love  him.  And  tlien^  as  a  crown  and  cUmax 
of  the  manifestation,  the  Father  and  Son  together 
will  come  unto  him,  and  make  their  abode  with 
him. 

The  picture  in  the  Eevelation  is  of  one  stand- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  church,  and  knocking  for 
admittance.  And  the  natural  and  necessary  con- 
dition in  the  case  of  every  man  is,  that  the  inward 
response  shall  be  the  signal  for  entrance  and  friend- 
ship and  fellowship,  and  there  is,  at  length,  the 
blessed  banqueting  there.  "If  any  man  hear  my 
voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  into  him,  and 
sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  This  is  the  clear 
delineation  of  the  whole  case.  This  is  the  full 
explanation  of  all  the  phenomena. 

And  further,  this  law  of  the  divine  manifesta- 
tion involves  principles,  which  apply  as  well  to  the 
negative  as  to  the  positive  side,  and  as  well  in  eter- 
nity as  time.  It  is  night  now  in  other  quarters  of 
the  globe,  not  because  the  sun  is  blotted  out  or 
exhausted.  No.  But  simply  because  there  the 
earth  is  turning  her  face  away  from  the  sun.  So, 
also,  it  is  the  side  of  the  moon  which  leans  in  her 
circuits  towards  the  sun,  which  gets  all  the  radi- 
ance which  she  reflects  upon  our  planet,  while  the 


86  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

other  side  must,  by  the  same  necessity,  be  pitchy 
darkness,  and  winter's  cold!  Does  any  one  ask 
then,  Hoio  it  is  that  God  allows  in  his  universe 
any  place  of  perdition  ?  It  is  simply  because  men, 
who  have  perdition  in  them,  can  go  nowhere  else, 
by  all  the  laws  of  moral,  gravitation — by  all  the 
affinities  of  moral  being.  Just  as  a  stone  sinks 
and  a  feather  floats — by  law.  It  is  even  a  pro- 
vision for  a  great  necessity,  and  no  arbitrary  dic- 
tum of  God.  It  can  not  be  otherwise.  In  the 
constitution  of  moral  nature,  by  the  law  which 
eternally  regulates  all  moral  destinies,  it  must  be 
so!  The  sinner  must  go  to  his  own  place.  No 
power  in  the  universe  could  adapt  heaven  to  the 
lost  soul.  Lost  to  all  right  conceptions  of  God — 
to  all  right  views  of  truth,  and  to  all  holy  princi- 
ples of  action — to  all  right  tastes  and  affections — 
there  is  no  atmosphere  in  heaven  which  such  an 
one  could  breathe — no  pleasure  in  heaven  which 
such  an  one  could  relish  or  tolerate.  Do  you  ask 
of  Jesus  again,  Hoio  is  it  that  thou  wilt  not  man- 
ifest thyself  unto  the  world  ? 

Has  the  question  in  your  mind  ever  taken  the 
shape  of  the  profane  inquiry,  Hoiv  is  it  that  God 
can  be  so  criiel  as  to  send  any  man  to  an  eternal 
perdition?  Then,  I  say,  there  is  no  cruelty  on 
God's  part,  but  only  a  high  and  absolute  neces- 
sity that  must  determine  the  manifestation  on  both 
sides.  And  as  heaven  consists  in  God's  manifesta- 
tion of  his  glories  to  those  who  love  him,  and  it 
is  all  blessedness  and  rapture  to  them;  so  whose 
fault  is  it,  if  to  those  who  hate  him,  he  turns  his 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  87 

back,  or  if  turning  their  back  on  him,  that  very- 
manifestation  of  himself  which  makes  a  heaven 
to  the  good,  makes  a  hell  to  the  wicked,  simply 
by  their  own  adverse  position? 

Look  at  Judas  Iscariot.  He  was  simply  a  fully 
developed  sinner,  lost  amidst  the  highest  exhibi- 
tions of  Christ's  love,  and  lost  to  all  that  is  lovely 
and  good  in  the  universe.  Where  must  he  go? 
Where  in  all  the  realm  of  God's  government? 
Where?  Only  to  his  own  place — where  every 
thing  is  akin  to  him,  where  his  boon  companions 
are,  where  he  naturally  and  necessarily  belongs. 
No  power  of  all  the  angels,  as  they  reap  the  har- 
vest of  the  world,  could  thrust  the  humblest  be- 
ing into  hell  (or  into  heaven),  against  this  law  of 
moral  affinity. 

And  so  it  is  that  Jesus  further  explains,  and  on 
the  negative  side  of  this  great  question,  just  to 
show  how  it  is  that  he  will  not  manifest  himself 
to  the  icorld.  He  simply  says,  "He  that  loveth 
me  not  keepeth  not  my  sayings." 

This  is  the  law,  and  this  is  the  philosophy  of 
its  working.  The  question  of  salvation  or  perdi- 
tion is  reduced  ultimately  to  a  matter  of  taste. 
And  the  taste  determines  the  action,  towards  God 
or  away  from  him — for  God  or  against  him  forever. 
What  are  your  tastes  and  affinities  ?  God  is  just, 
and  true,  and  good.  The  salvation  is  universal, 
in  so  far,  that  it  is  free  to  all — offered  to  all 
who  will.  But  how  can  it  take  effect  against  any 
man's  will,  however  universal  it  may  be?  The 
only  thing  that  ever  conditions  it  to  any  one  is 


88  THE    LAW    OF    THE 

his  own  actual  and  cordial  acceptance  of  it.  And 
beyond  that  absolute  universality  of  the  offer,  shall 
any  man  dare  demand  that  God  shall  put  him  un- 
der any  compulsion  to  love  him?  This  is  impos- 
sible, inconceivable!  Love  can  not  be  so  com- 
pelled! God  himself  can  not  so  violate  all  the 
law  of  moral  being,  as  to  make  a  man's  love  to 
him  to  be  contrary  to  the  man's  own  choice,  and 
in  utter  violence  to  his  free  action. 

No !  And  can  a  man  make  his  perverse  and 
corrupt  tastes  a  plea  for  his  alienation  from  all 
that  is  g'ood  ?  Is  a  man's  taste  for  fraud,  or  theft, 
or  murder,  a  plea  in  his  defence?  No,  but  rather 
an  aggravation  of  it.  Call  it  moral  insanity,  or 
what  you  will,  we  can  conceive  no  greater  free- 
dom among  men,  than  that  one  does  as  he  pleases, 
and  follows  out  his  own  tastes  and  appetites. 

But  whosoever  will,  let  him  take;  nothing  can 
be  freer  than  this.  If  any  man  thirst,  here  is  the 
living  water,  gushing  up  freely  and  fully  from  the 
open  fountain.  And  no  man  who  comes  hither, 
wishing  to  find  Christ,  but  will  find  Christ  waiting 
to  receive  him  into  favor.  To  one  who  knocks  for 
admittance  at  Christ's  gate,  there  is  nothing  in 
the  universe  to  debar  him.  The  gate  stands  wide 
open,  night  and  day,  for  such  to  enter  freely.  And 
when  any  such  applicant  doubts  whether  he  will 
be  accepted,  let  him  understand  that  this  is  to 
doubt  all  Christ's  word  of  Gospel  invitation  and 
provision.  And  that  already  he  is  accepted  in  the 
beloved.  And  let  him  know  that  heaven  is  for 
none  other  than  such. 


DIVINE    MANIFESTATION.  89 

And  there  as  here,  the  children  will  find  the 
Father's  house;  and  just  because  they  are  chil- 
dren, they  shall  come,  one  by  one,  tripping  home 
at  evening,  and  shall  gather  round  the  supper- 
table,  and  he  will  preside  at  the  feast,  and  he  will 
manifest  himself  in  all  his  loving  attributes  to  all 
those  who  love  him,  and  who  heed  and  cherish  his 
word. 

And  all  that  manifestation  shall  be  infinitely 
natural,  genial,  cordial.  And  as  he  has  often 
come  in  and  supped  with  us  here.  Father  and  Son 
together,  along  with  the  children,  so  there,  we 
shall  enter  in  and  sup  with  him  at  the  great  ban- 
quet of  the  redeemed.  And  it  will  be  Aome,  and 
happiness  and  heaven. 


VI. 

THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS." 

'But  one  thing  is  needful." — Luke  x.   42 "One   thing 

thou   lackest." — Mark  x.  21 "One  thing  I  know." — ^John 

ix.    25 "One   thing   have   I  desired   of  the   Lord." — PsALM 

xxvii.  4 "But  this  one  thing  I  do." — Phil.  iii.   13. 

The  Bible  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  book  of  one 
idea.  There  is  one  doctpine  taught,  towards  which 
all  its  passages  converge.  There  is  one  interest 
set  forth,  as  the  essence  of  this  divine  communica- 
tion to  men.  One  duty  is  enjoined,  in  which  all 
possible  duty  concentrates.  As  a  record  of  his- 
tory, what  shall  be  stated  as  the  sum  of  it  all? 
"This  is  the  record — that  God  hath  given  to  us 
eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son."  As  a  mes- 
sage from  God  to  us,  what  is  the  substance  of  it 
all  ?  This  is  the  message — "  Peace  on  earth,  good- 
will toward  men."  As  a  law  of  living,  what  is  the 
purport  of  it  all  ?  This  is  the  law — "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself."  And  as  a  definition  of  duty, 
what  is  it  in  the  language  of  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self? "This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe 
on  him  whom  he  hath  sent."  And  where  this  Gos- 
pel is  truly  embraced,  it  makes  the  man,  in  a  strik- 


THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS."  91 

ing  sense,  a  man  of  one  idea.  His  eye  is  single, 
his  aim  is  simple,  his  life  is  expressed  in  one  word 
— "To  me,  to  live  is  Christ/'''  and  so,  also,  death 
with  such  an  one  has  but  one  result — gam  I 

I  find  in  the  Scriptures  five  passages,  in  which  a 
certain  "one  thing''  is  spoken  of,  and  these  pas- 
sages are  comprehensive  of  all  true  religion. 

The  first  passage  is  this  of  our  Lord  to  ]\iaii;ha, 
Luke  X.  42:  "Owe  thing  (he  says)  is  needful!"  It 
is  personal  religion — the  positive  and  absolute  need 
of  all.  The  great  Creator  of  all  things  stands  be- 
fore a  poor  creature,  who  is  full  of  various  ne- 
cessities, the  very  impersonation,  as  Martha  was, 
of  divers  cares  and  worriments  of  life.  And,  as 
if  there  were  only  one  thing,  out  of  all  that  crowd 
of  her  anxieties  which  was  really  worthy  her  so- 
licitude, he  says:  "]\Iartha,  Martha,  thou  art  care- 
ful and  troubled  about  many  things ;  but  one  thing 
is  needful ! "  Not  as  if  all  attention  to  domestic 
matters  were  to  be  rebuked.  No!  Not  as  if  the 
cares  of  the  household  were  not  every  way  proper 
and  commendable.  Nor  as  if  Martha  were  to  be 
blamed  for  the  beautiful  example  which  she  set 
of  caring  so  much  to  make  her  house  and  board 
agreeable  to  the  Master.  OA,  no !  But  that  Mary 
also  is  well  situated  at  the  feet  of  Jesus — that 
she  is  not  to  be  rebuked  for  seeming  to  subordi- 
nate every  thing  earthly  to  the  higher  spiritual 
concern — and  that,  as  a  principle,  which  must  for- 
ever decide  between  the  Marys  and  the  Marthas, 
there  is  just  one  thing  needful;  and  that  to  this 
thing  every  thing  ought  to  be  referred.     It  is  just 


92  THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS." 

the  foundation  which  is  needful  to  the  building. 
It  is  the  main-spring  which  is  needful  to  the 
watch.  It  is  the  light  which  is  needful  to  the 
eye.  Nay,  it  is  the  soul  which  is  needful  to  the 
body. 

And  true  religion,  whether  you  define  it  as  the 
love  of  God  or  the  faith  of  Christ,  is  just  the  helm 
that  is  needed  to  steer  the  vessel  on  this  great  and 
tumultuous  ocean — the  pole-star  in  our  sky  which 
is  needed  to  guide  our  earthly  course.  And  as 
between  Martha  and  Mary  here,  it  is  not  at  all  a 
question  between  merely  secular  and  merely  spir- 
itual occupation,  but  only  a  question  between  the 
diiferent  modes  of  serving  Christ  in  different  cir- 
cumstances. For  Martha  is  a  lover  of  Christ,  and 
this  is  the  secret  of  her  care  to  set  his  table  well. 
But  Martha's  duty  is  not  Mary's,  nor  is  Martha 
responsible  for  Mary's  service,  nor  is  Martha  to  be 
the  censor  of  Mary's  conduct,  if  the  Master  ap- 
proves. Much  less  is  Martha  to  fret  so  over  her 
housekeeping  cares,  as  to  chide  the  Master  him- 
self for  not  thrusting  Mary  from  his  feet,  that  she 
may  give  her  help  in  her  undue  worriment.  Nay, 
the  subject  has  only  one  solution;  true  religion 
everywhere — in  the  kitchen,  in  the  parlor,  or  in 
the  sanctuary. 

But  the  record  is — "Mary  also  sat  at  Jesus' 
feet."  Not  exclusively  this;  not  shunning  to  bear 
her  part  in  the  service  also,  but  mingling  the  work- 
ing and  the  waiting  in  such  way  as  draws  com- 
mendation from  the  Master. 

AYork  and  worship  are  sisters ;  twin  sisters,  shall 


THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS."  93 

I  say?  Not  work  without  worship!  That  is  sla- 
very. Not  worship  without  work.  That  is  fanati- 
cism and  heresy.  Sitting  at  Jesus'  feet  and  hear- 
ing his  word,  we  get  the  key  and  clew  to  all  holy 
living. 

Some  disparage  docfyine^  will  have  nothing  but 
work,  will  have  little  to  do  with  a  creeds  will  shun 
any  committal  to  definite  symbols  of  faith;  as 
though  doctrine  were  not  at  the  very  bottom  of 
duty,  as  though  a  man's  beliefs  positive  and  well 
defined,  must  not  control  his  practice;  as  though 
any  one's  living  could  mean  any  thing,  or  be  of 
any  account  at  all,  except  as  founded  upon  his  con- 
victions. IMary  also  sat  at  Jesus'  feet  and  heard 
his  word,  taking  precious  lessons  of  Christian  doc- 
trine in  order  to  Christian  duty;  learning  just 
there^  at  Ms  feet^  to  do  such  eminent  service,  as  to 
wash  those  sacred  feet  with  her  tears,  and  to  wipe 
them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head;  and  preparing 
just  there  to  do  that  splendid  office-work  of  anoint- 
ing, which  he  was  pleased  to  account  as  done 
against  the  day  of  his  burial.  And  thus  her  work 
had  all  its  glowing  motive  and  glorious  crown,  as 
being  Christian  work,  done  on  the  basis  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  learned  at  Jesus'  feet.  And  when 
tlie  sisters  sent  for  Jesus  to  save  their  sick  brotlier, 
this  is  the  record;  not — It  was  that  Martha  who 
spread  his  table;  but,  "It  was  that  Mamj  who 
anointed  the  Lord  with  ointment,  and  wiped  his 
feet  with  her  hair,  whose  brother  Lazarus  was 
sick." 

And  so  the  choice  of  this  good  part  is  the  choice 


94  THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS." 

of  a  key  to  unlock  all  the  chambers  of  the  glorious 
golden  palace  of  God!  The  habitual  learning  from 
Jesus,  out  of  his  word  and  out  of  his  daily  prov- 
idence, is  perhaps  less  showy,  less  bustling,  less 
demonstrative;  but  it  is  not,  on  this  account,  de- 
serving of  the  reflection  which  may  be  cast  upon 
it  from  ]\Iartha's  point  of  view.  In  truth  this  is 
the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he 
hath  sent.  "This  is  life  eternal,  to  know  thee,  the 
only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast 
sent." 

The  busy  workers  who  can  go  out  among  the 
degraded  and  destitute,  and  day  and  night  can 
seek  them  for  Christ,  may  sometimes  complain 
of  those  whose  work  is  more  retiring  and  less 
public,  as  if  they  were  doing  nothing  in  their 
quiet  home  circle,  or  in  the  unpretending  walks  of 
the  neighborhood.  Some  are  always  demanding 
that  all  shall  work  in  their  way,  after  their  pat- 
tern ;  and  nothing  counts  with  them,  in  the  whole 
varied  round  of  service,  if  it  be  not  out-of-doors 
work,  society  work,  and  public  demonstration. 
Some  who  are  always  on  their  feet  in  the  Chris- 
tian service  are  not  found  sufficiently  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus.  This  religion  must  sway  all  our  belief, 
must  enter  into  all  our  relations,  and  must  per- 
vade all  our  affairs.  And  in  order  to  this,  it  re- 
quires to  be  nourished  on  all  sides,  and  to  be  care- 
fully cultivated  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  himself— to 
learn  of  him.  Else,  this  living  of  ours,  amidst  toil 
and  trial,  takes  in  too  much  of  the  merely  secular 
element,  and  we  lose  the  calm  and  peace  which 


THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS."  95 

our  blessed  Christianity  so  well  affords.  "  One 
thing  is  needful,''  especially  in  the  worry  of  modern 
living;  to  hallow  life's  cares,  and  lighten  its  loads, 
and  soothe  its  sorrows,  and  chasten  its  tempers,  and 
sweeten  its  endearment^.  Your  cares  and  troubles 
are  sent  to  bring  you  to  his  feet.  Blessed  are  the 
Marthas  who  bring  their  cares,  and  even  their  com- 
plaints to  Jesus.  He  will  show  them  his  grace, 
most  resplendent  upon  the  dark  background  of 
every  sorrow.  He  will  show  them  how  in  every 
trouble  the  eternal  stars  will  shine  out  as  soon 
as  it  is  dark  enough;  and  how  every  cloud  that 
spreads  above,  and  veileth  love,  itself  is  love!  He 
will  expound  to  them  the  elaborate  system  of  his 
providence,  by  which,  as  in  the  music-box,  every 
one  of  the  sharp  points  that  are  scattered,  at  seem- 
ing random,  on  the  cylinder  of  daily  life,  is  set 
so  as  to  strike  an  answering  chord,  just  where  it 
shall  discourse  the  most  harmonious  and  exquisite 
melody. 

Again,  secoiulhj,  we  find  the  same  "one  thing" 
set  forth  by  the  Master — true  religion.  The  chief 
essential  lack  of  the  best  natural  men.  "  One  thing 
thou  lackesU'  Mark  x.  21.  It  is  the  case  in  which 
our  Lord  confronts  the  claims  of  a  most  exemplary 
and  lovely  young  man,  who  had  Avealth  and  social 
position,  and  even  a  religious  inclination,  to  make 
him  most  attractive  and  truly  lovely.  Jesus  shows 
him  wherein  all  his  vaunted  righteousness  was  de- 
fective and  unable  to  stand  the  test. 

You  see  the  picture  as  it  is  drawn  by  the  inspired 
evangelist.     It  is  the  young  ruler  accosting   the 


96  THE    FIVE    *'ONE    THINGS." 

Master  in  most  respectful  terms;  nay,  running  and 
kneeling  to  Him,  and  anxiously  inquiring  of  Him 
— "What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?"  It  is 
the  picture  of  many  a  young  man — respectful  to 
religion  indeed,  but  not  religious  nor  ready  to  be- 
come such.  It  is  the  great  chief  question  of  our 
race,  in  contact  with  the  means  of  grace,  and  un- 
der the  pressure  of  divine  truth.  And  the  point 
of  the  Master's  teaching  and  warning  is  this:  the 
most  direct,  the  most  personal,  the  mo'st  universal 
— "0?ie  thing  thou  lachestJ] 

Who  does  not  know  that  the  lack  of  one  thing, 
in  most  special  circumstances,  may  be  the  lack  of 
every  thing  ?  The  wedding  garment  at  the  feast, 
the  robe  of  Christ's  righteousness  at  the  judgment, 
the  passport  at  the  gate  of  heaven. 

This  is  every  thing.  It  is  so  in  daily  life.  If  a 
man  lacks  principle,  you  say  this  is  that  essential 
lack  which  spoils  his  best  deeds,  vitiates  all  his 
living,  makes  him  utterly  unreliable.  If  he  be 
untrue,  if  he  lack  truth  in  speech  or  conduct,  this 
is  fatal  before  God  and  man.  And  this  is  just  pre- 
cisely that  one  thing — the  lack  of  a  true  and  proper 
Christian  princip)le  in  all  one's  actions,  which  the 
judgment  day  shall  expose  and  denounce  with 
fearful  severity.  Oh  how  many  guises  shall  be 
torn  off  in  that  day,  how  many  sophistries  ex- 
posed, how  much  fair-seeming  will  be  made  dis- 
gusting !  How  many  a  young  man,  of  whom  this 
one  in  the  Scripture  is  the  type,  will  be  able  indeed 
to  say — "All  these  commandments  have  I  kept 
from  my  youth  up,"  they  were  the  inculcation  of 


THE    FIVE    **ONE    THINGS."  97 

my  infancy,  the  doctrine  of  parental  piety,  dis- 
tilled upon  me  as  rain  upon  the  tender  grass ;  and 
from  the  first  to  the  tenth  command,  I  have  kept 
them  all  from  my  youth.  Who  shall  say  now, 
that  I  lack  any  thing  ?  The  Judge  of  all  will  say 
— "Yet  lackest  thou  one  thing;''  and  this  is  the 
new  heart,  this  is  the  Christian  principle,  this  is 
the  divine  life  in  the  soul.  Only  one  thing  indeed! 
But  as  when  the  light  is  lacking  to  the  landscape 
the  whole  scenery  of  fields  and  fiowers  is  wrapped 
in  darkness,  and  has  the  pall  of  midnight  spread 
over  all  its  beauty,  so  thou  lackest  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  to  break  out  upon  your  decorous 
and  decent  living — to  make  it  beam  forth  as  the 
reflection  of  Jesus'  image,  and  glow  and  glisten  in 
all  the  hues  and  tints  of  the  rainbow  that  is  round 
about  the  throne ! 

And  if  any  man  questions  his  lack  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Master,  let  him  only  ask.  Who  is  to 
pronounce  upon  the  fact  at  the  last  day?  By 
what  standard  is  his  life  to  be  measured?  Whose 
requirement  is  he  to  meet?  Whose  bar  is  he  to 
confront?  And  if  yet  he  seem  to  himself  to  be 
faultless,  or  claim  to  be  without  any  essential  de- 
fect, let  him  only  submit  himself  to  this  true  test 
of  all  morality — let  him  hear  the  ten  commands 
expounded  and  applied  at  the  lips  of  the  great 
Lawgiver  himself.  He  may  repeat  them  all  and 
respond  to  them  all,  but  put  to  the  first  practical 
test  he  breaks  down  at  the  very  first  command- 
ment. Has  he  been  keeping  the  cold  precepts  of 
the  Decalogue,  and  yet  tm-ned  away  from  the  liv- 
7 


98  THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS." 

ing  impersonation  of  them  all  in  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  himself?  Has  he  had  love  for  his  neighbor, 
for  his  friend,  for  his  household — love  for  the  stran- 
ger even,  and  only  no  love  at  all  for  the  most 
lovely  object  in  the  universe?  Weighed  in  this 
balance  of  heaven  itself,  the  verdict  is — "  Yet  lack- 
est  thou  one  tiling." 

Ah !  you  do  not  know,  as  yet,  the  preface  to  the 
commandments.  You  have  not  read  that  Gospel^ 
that  goes  before  the  Laiv^  that  wondrous  announce- 
ment of  deliverance  from  the  house  of  bondage,  by 
him  who  says  to  you:  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God, 
which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me."  I 
must  have  all  your  love. 

Many  wonder  how  it  could  be  said  here,  of  this 
very  young  man,  with  all  his  fatal  mistake,  that 
Jesus,  looking  upon  him,  loved  him.  But  this  is 
the  Gospel  itself,  which  we  are  all  so  slow  to  ap- 
preciate; the  tidings  of  God's  love  to  us  in  Jesus 
Christ,  that  comes  in  every  Gospel  message,  and 
comes  in  every  benediction  of  the  sanctuary — "The 
love  of  God  be  with  you."  This  is  the  precious, 
gracious  truth,  that  the  young  ruler  had  not  taken 
into  his  soul,  the  love  of  God  to  men,  and  that  (jod 
sends  his  love  to  sinners  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  calling 
for  a  responsive  and  absorbing  love  to  him.  And 
so  the  young  man  had  failed  to  understand  the 
Decalogue,  and  could  not  receive  or  obey  it  in 
truth,  because  he  understood  it  as  a  task,  because 
he  had  not  understood  the  preface  to  it,  that  bade 
him,  first  of  all,  count  himself  a  redeemed  man, 


THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS."  99 

and  wake  up  to  the  high  obligation  of  giving  the 
heart  to  him  who  gave  himself  for  his  salvation. 

And  still  more.  Your  idolatry  of  the  luorld  may 
be  the  secret  poison  at  the  vitals  of  all  your  moral- 
ity. Then  admit  this  test  of  Jesus — begin  at  the 
very  first  commandment.  Who,  or  what  is  your 
God?  What  if  he  bid  you  to  sell  what  you  have 
and  give  to  the  poor,  to  empty  the  chaif  from  his 
vessel  so  as  to  get  it  filled  from  his  store?  Do 
you  love  most  your  gold  or  your  God,  your  treas- 
ure or  the  well-being  of  your  fellow-men,  your 
large  possessions  which  the  Master  allows  you  or 
the  Master  himself,  your  riches  or  the  heritage  of 
heaven?  Is  it  God  or  mammon  that  you  serve 
and  obey?  Oh,  if  you  lack  this  one  thing,  under- 
neath all  these  fair  appearances  you  lack  the  new 
nature,  the  renewed  temper,  the  celestial  taste,  the 
divine  affinity,  the  relish  for  heaven  itself!  And 
so  you  lack  every  thing. 

But  there  is,  tldrcUy.  another  point  of  view,  in 
which  this  one  thing  is  presented  to  us  in  the  Scrip- 
ture. It  is  the  one  thing  needful  obtained,  or  per- 
sonal religion  in  the  experience.  "One  thing  I 
know,  that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see,"  John 
ix.  25. 

The  case  is  that  of  the  poor  man  upon  whose 
dead  eyeball  no  sweet  light  of  sun  or  stars  had 
ever  shone  from  the  beginning;  the  very  picture 
of  native  disability.  And  to  him  Jesus  came — 
the  wonder-worker,  the  Healei\  the  Saviour.  And 
upon  all  that  darkness  there  burst  forth  the  glori- 
ous light  of  day,  and  his  eyes  were  gladdened  by 


100  THE    FIVE 

a  sight  of  the  personal  Kedeemer,  who  is  the  Light 
of  the  World,  and  the  Light  of  Life.  And  now, 
when  men  were  puzzled  at  the  change,  when 
friends  crowded  around  the  cured  man  to  inquire 
into  the  wondrous  phenomena,  when  they  said  it 
was  so  impossible,  so  incredible,  that  a  man  should 
by  a  word  open  the  eyes  of  one  born  blind,  he 
answers  to  it  all,  out  of  his  own  experience,  "  One 
thing  I  knoiv^  that  whereas  I  was  blind  now  I  see." 
It  is  the  amazing  contrast  of  what  he  is  with 
what  he  was,  which  certifies  him  of  the  change. 
His  long  cherished  misconceptions  of  the  truth  are 
gone.  What  he  was  so  naturally  blind  to,  what 
he  never  could  see  though  it  was  often  described 
to  him,  what  he  could  never  understand  though 
so  often  explained  to  him,  now  he  sees  it  all.  It 
comes  flashing  into  his  inmost  soul  with  all  its  in- 
imitable beauty — God's  love  to  men  in  the  Gospel 
and  the  glorious  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  in  all 
its  glorious  colors.  What  wonder  that  only  one 
object  now  fills  his  eye,  only  one  truth  is  to  him 
the  sum  of  all  knowledge;  and  far  beyond  all 
his  common  understanding  of  truths  in  nature  or 
truths  in  history,  far  beyond  his  knowledge  of 
common  facts  attested  by  observation  and  expe- 
rience, is  the  absolute  certainty  which  he  has  of 
this  one  thing  !  It  is  a  thing  which  has  gone  down 
to  the  depths  of  his  soul,  and  has  struck  its  roots 
deeply  into  the  very  fibres  and  tissues  of  his  be- 
ing. It  is  matter  of  living  consciousness.  What- 
ever Pharisees  may  profess  to  hnoiu  to  the  con- 
trary,  and  vaunting   Scribes  or  his   own  parents 


THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS."  101 

may  assert,  all  this  does  not  diHtiirb  him  at  all 
in  this  one  tiling^  which  he  certainly  and  undeni- 
ably hioivs  for  himsel£  Nay,  Avhatever  he  may 
not  know,  as  yet,  about  this  one  thing,  he  knows 
the  thing  itself,  knows  the  fact,  that  the  change 
has  passed  upon  his  mental  and  moral  being;  that 
it  is  now  the  gladdest  of  all  cures  which  a  man 
could  experience,  to  have  his  dead  eyeball  quick- 
ened, and  a  universe  of  beauty  let  in,  with  the 
flood  of  day,  upon  his  joyous  sense.  As  if  God 
had  just  now  flung  out  all  these  worlds  for  him, 
and  decked  the  fields  with  all  their  flowers,  and 
the  faces  of  friends  with  all  their  nameless  charms, 
and  discovered  Jesus  to  him,  as  his  best  friend, 
to  fill  his  soul  with  oceans  of  happiness.  Let  the 
vain  world,  let  arrogant  reason,  let  the  devil  him- 
self, with  all  his  cunning,  seek  to  throw  skeptic 
suspicions  upon  the  sources  of  this  untold  pleasure, 
and  to  dry  up  the  fountains  of  this  joy,  and  to  poi- 
son the  springs  of  this  new-born  hope.  They  must 
first  destroy  the  very  constitution  of  the  soul,  must 
vitiate  all  the  evidence  of"  experience,  must  make 
a  man  to  disbelieve — I  will  not  say  his  senses  of 
sight,  and  hearing  and  feeling,  for  they  may  de- 
ceive him — but  to  disbelieve  his  own  self. 

Tell  me  that  this  domain  of  religious  experience 
is  not  the  proper  sphere  of  knowledge.  I  tell  you 
this  is  the  very  field  of  positive  knowledge.  To 
all  the  vagaries  of  a  blind  philosophy  and  a  deaf 
science,  claiming  to  know  more  than  the  Scrip- 
ture or  more  than  God,  the  Christian  man  still 
answers  boldly,  "  One  thing  I  knoiv,  that  whereas 


102  THE    FIVE 

I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  He  witnesses  of  this 
Kedeemer's  work  npon  himself,  of  this  one  thing 
as  the  great  requisite,  and  witnesses  of  its  reality 
in  his  own  case.  He  says,  "one  thing  to  me  was 
needful,  and  that  was  my  sight;  one  thing  indeed 
I  lacked,  and  that  was  the  cure!  But  now,  one 
thing  /  know,  that  the  blessed  change  has  been 
wrought  upon  me  which  has  altered  all  my  be- 
ing." Oh  poor  blind  sinner,  do  you  claim  that 
you  see  ?  that  you  apprehend  truth  and  appreciate 
it  in  its  real  bearings,  and  yet  like  Pilate  in  the 
presence  of  the  King  of  Truth  and  of  the  Person  of 
Truth  itself,  are  vainly  querying,  "What  is  truth?" 
I  tell  you  this  one  thing  must  yet  become  a  matter 
of  your  inward  and  personal  experience,  before  you 
can  speak  or  act  advisedly !  Till  this  change  shall 
take  place  upon  you  you  are  at  best  even  here  in 
the  sanctuary  only  a  blind  Nicodemus,  groping 
about  by  night,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Mas- 
ter, asking,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?  " 

And,  fourthly,  another  passage  presents  still  an- 
other and  further  aspect  of  this  one  thing.  It  is 
true  religion  in  the  heart  as  the  spring  of  true 
devotion.  It  is  the  Psalmist's  fervent  aspiration, 
in  which  he  seems  to  have  but  one  great  wish — 
one  hearty  desire  —  that  absorbs  his  whole  soul, 
and  swallows  up  all  the  passions  of  his  being. 
Psalm  xxvii.  4:  "One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the 
Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after,  that  I  may  dwell  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to 
behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  inquire  in 
his  temple." 


THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS."  103 

Here  it  is,  that  the  one  principle  works  within, 
ill  one  characteristic  style  of  impulse  and  emotion. 
This  is  its  natural  development  in  worship.  The 
Christian  is  a  man  of  prayer  and  praise.  His 
chosen  occupation  is  worship,  his  chosen  home  is 
the  sanctuary,  his  favorite  study  is  the  character 
and  ways  of  God.  The  personal  object  in  all  the 
universe  that  most  attracts  him  is  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  clustering  around  the  house  of  God  are  his 
dearest,  fondest  home  delights.  Here  are  his  com- 
panions and  friends,  here  he  chooses  his  residence 
for  a  permanency ;  and  this  one  taste  is  the  expres- 
sion of  all  the  highest,  strongest  affinities  of  his 
being. 

To  know  a  man's  character,  ask  only  what  de- 
lights him  most.  What  places  does  he  chiefly  fre- 
quent? What  circle  of  friendship  does  he  seek, 
what  is  his  chosen  study  and  occupation,  what 
are  his  leanings  and  likings,  and  what  are  his 
longings  day  by  day,  culminating  at  the  top  and 
crown  of  the  week  ?  The  word  of  God,  the  house 
of  God,  the  worship  of  God,  the  people  of  God, 
the  service  of  God,  the  favor  of  God,  and  God  him- 
self— these  express,  for  a  true  Christian,  his  whole 
circle  of  interests. 

*'Thou  art  the  sea  of  love, 

Where  all  my  pleasures  roll; 
The  circle  where  my  passions  move, 
And  centre  of  my  soul." 

The  one  thing  needful  is  found.  The  07ie  thing 
lacking  is  supplied.  The  one  thing  that  he  knows 
beyond  all  dispute  is  this  new  perception  he  has 


104  THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS." 

of  the  divine  beauty,  and  this  new  sense  and  eye- 
sight of  all  that  is  so  transcendently  lovely  in  the 
character  and  work  and  ways  of  God  himself  And 
he  can  not  keep  it  secret.  He  must  give  it  pub- 
lic expression,  in  the  public  confession  of  Christ 
and  Christianity.  And  you  had  as  well  expect  a 
lighted  lamp  to  keep  the  light  a  secret,  or  the  rose 
to  hold  back  its  fragrance,  as  expect  a  Christian 
not  to  confess  Christ.  And  the  one  engrossing 
desire  that  expresses  the  highest  longings  of  his 
nature  is  this — a  personal  communion  with  God; 
and  if  anywhere  on  earth  a  table  is  spread  for 
this  he  will  find  it.  It  is  this  heaving  and  swell- 
ing of  his  bosom  after  fellowship  with  the  Most 
High  which  does,  in  eifect,  make  every  place  to 
him  a  place  of  worship,  and  every  act  an  act  of 
worship,  and  sets  the  sanctuary  far  above  all  earth- 
ly resorts,  and  establishes  the  man  in  a  habitual 
devoutness,  until  his  face  shall  seem  to  shine  and 
glow  in  the  radiance  of  his  interviews  with  God. 
Such  an  one  illustrates  the  true  religion,  in  all 
his  tastes  and  fellowships.  And  when,  on  the  Sab- 
bath, or  during  the  week,  he  comes  up  to  the  courts 
of  God,  you  can  see  that  it  is  from  no  constraint, 
but  out  of  a  hearty  choice ;  that  it  is  his  Aome,  that 
it  is  more  attractive  to  him  even  than  his  own 
hearth-stone,  and  the  dear  circle  of  his  household, 
because  this  is  the  dwelling-place  of  God,  his  heav- 
enly Father,  and  the  chosen  resting-place  of  the 
soul.  And  such  a  prevalent  temper  is  the  guar- 
antee of  all  good  desires,  and  the  pledge  of  all  holy 
and  happy  experience. 


THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS."  105 

But  there  is  still  another  and  crowning  aspect, 
in  which  this  one  thing  is  presented.  It  is  per- 
sonal religion  essential  in  the  life^  or  Christian  ac- 
tivity exemplified. 

''''This  0716  thing  I  do"  Philippians  iii.  13.  Paul 
is  the  man  who  says  it — that  man  of  gigantic  en- 
terprises and  of  vast  and  varied  exploits,  whom 
you  see  at  Jerusalem,  at  Athens,  at  Corinth,  at 
Ephesus,  at  Kome,  confronting  all  oppositions,  re- 
futing all  sophistries,  establishing  and  supervising 
all  the  churches.  Yet  it  is  only  one  thing  he  does ; 
as  the  sun  does  only  one  thing — that  he  shines 
and  shines  for  aU,  and  comprehends  all  within  his 
glowing  circuit,  and  sheds  his  radiance  upon  all 
creatures  and  objects  under  the  broad  heavens. 

This  is  the  sublime  imity  of  the  Christian  living, 
that  in  effect  it  has  but  one  aim,  knows  but  one 
object,  moves  in  but  one  orbit,  and  tends  always 
towards  one  grand  result.  This  is  no  narrowness 
of  thought  and  feeling,  but  only  a  world-wide 
comprehension  of  all  truth  and  duty.  If  there 
seem  to  be  various  forces  at  work  in  his  life,  there 
is  this  resultant  of  them  all  to  be  found.  If  there 
be  disturbances  at  times  in  his  motions,  there  is 
yet  a  balance  even  of  those  disturbances,  like  that 
balancing  of  perturbations  which  holds  the  planets 
in  their  track  and  wheels  them  along  in  their 
spheres.  This  makes  a  man  consistent  and  prin- 
cipled— that  he  has  no  two  Gods  to  serve,  no  tiuo 
courses  to  pursue,  no  tiuo  ends  to  fulfil,  no  two  des- 
tinies to  attain.  This  steady,  uniform  aim  and  ob- 
ject of  life  develops  into  all  the  manifold  Christian 


106  THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS." 

enterprises  of  church  work  and  Christian  benefi- 
cence. This  is  the  beautiful  singleness  of  eye 
which  makes  the  whole  body  full  of  light,  where 
there  is  this  fixed  focus  of  his  vision,  and  no  double 
sight.  This  is  the  simplicity  and  transparency  of 
his  conduct — a  man  of  one  huge,  steady,  life-long 
undertaking,  of  one  grand  thought,  of  one  burn- 
ing desire,  of  one  overmastering  impulse ;  like  the 
runner  of  a  race,  with  his  eye  intent  upon  the  one 
goal,  straining  every  nerve  and  bending  every  en- 
ergy for  the  achievement;  like  the  great  racer 
who,  even  if  he  wound  himself  on  the  track,  will 
struggle  bravely  through.  This  is  the  secret  of 
all  efficiency,  of  all  fidelity,  of  all  success. 

But  observe  here,  this  one  tlmuj  that  the  Chris- 
tian does  is  to  progress  in  the  divine  life.  It  is  to 
advance  in  Christian  attainment.  It  is  no  sitting 
at  ease,  as  though  the  getting  of  this  religion  were 
like  getting  a  jewel  to  wear,  instead  of  an  imple- 
ment to  use  or  a  life  to  live.  There  must  be  the 
natural  and  necessary  development  of  that  germ 
which  is  implanted  in  the  new  birth,  that  grows 
to  the  stature  of  a  matured  and  ripened  manhood. 
And  yet  how  few  seem  to  have  discovered  that 
this  religion,  instead  of  being  a  thing  for  the  Sab- 
bath merely,  or  for  a  mere  ritualistic  service,  is  a 
thing  to  pervade  the  whole  being,  and  to  enter 
into  every  thought  and  feeling  and  action.  It 
consists  not  so  much  in  doing  certain  religious  and 
spiritual  things,  as  in  doing  all  things  upon  a  re- 
ligious and  spiritual  p)rincip>le.  This  is,  indeed,  just 
the  difi'erence   between  a  mere  empty  formalism 


THE    FIVE    "ONE    THINGS."  107 

and  a  true  Christian  living.  And  the  atmosphere 
of  such  a  piety  is  no  such  dusky  twilight  as 
makes  men  doubtful  whether  the  sun  is  up,  but 
you  know  that  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  has  risen 
on  the  world  of  such  a  man,  from  beholding  every 
object  lighted  up  by  its  eifulgence  and  glowing  in 
^its  beams.  And  it  is  not  with  such  an  apologizing 
for  deviations  from  the  course — for  excesses  or  in- 
dulgences; there  is  no  narrowing  and  diminishing 
of  the  divine  requirement  by  worldly  interpreta- 
tion, no  excuse  for  want  of  progress  in  religion. 
No !  but  rather  a  whole-souled  effort  and  determi- 
nation to  progress  to  the  highest  possible  attain- 
ment. It  is  no  self-satisfied  and  self-righteous  liv- 
ing, as  though  between  the  man  and  God  there 
was  no  great  distance  to  be  traversed,  in  reaching 
the  celestial  perfection;  but  it  is  an  ever  onward 
"pressing  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the 
high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,"  an  ever  in- 
creasing wrestle  with  all  forms  and  powers  of  evil 
in  the  world.  This  is  the  lack  of  the  modern  piety, 
my  hearers,  that  it  makes  no  such  strenuous,  per- 
sistent, daily  efforts  at  advance;  that  it  does  not 
pursue  this  divine  perfection  as  men  run  and  strug- 
gle for  a  prize. 

And  yet  is  not  this  perfectness  essential  to  the 
heavenly  estate  ?  And  are  you  even  at  any  near 
approach  to  that  unspotted  holiness  in  which  you 
are  hoping  to  appear  before  God?  I  assure  you, 
my  brethren,  there  can  be  nothing  miraculous  in 
the  transformation  of  any  soul  to  fit  it  for  gloiy, 
any  more  than  to  fit  it   for  woe.     It  is  the  one 


108  THE    FIVE    *'ONE    THINGS." 

tiling  tliroTiglioiit — the  one  thing  that  is  essen- 
tially needful  to  every  man,  and  the  one  thing 
that  is  essentially  lacking  with  every  unrenewed 
man,  and  the  one  thing  that  the  converted  man 
has  found  out,  like  a  new  eyesight  to  the  dead 
eyeball,  and  the  one  thing  that  shapes  his  daily 
longings  for  the  worship  and  service  of  God.  This 
is  still  the  one  thing  which  unifies  the  life,  and 
which  gives  definiteness  to  the  course,  and  bal- 
ance to  the  tendencies,  and  singleness  to  the  aim, 
and  harmony  to  the  powers  and  passions;  which 
makes  heaven  a  necessity  for  him.  One  thing 
is  certain,  heaven  can  be  the  home  of  those  only 
who  long  after  it  and  travel  towards  it.  That  prize 
can  be  reached  by  no  lottery,  but  only  by  those 
who  run  here  the  race  whose  terminus  is  crowned 
with  this  bright  reward. 

We  have  not  reached  the  goal,  my  brethren. 
Why  sit  down  as  though  all  our  work  of  heart- 
culture  were  finished,  when  it  is  scarce  begun? 
Where  is  the  daily  self-inspection  such  as  a  com- 
mon prudence  would  dictate  in  the  midst  of  dan- 
gers, such  as  the  smallest  degree  of  interest  would 
call  for  to  secure  the  great  result  ?  And  are  you 
getting  no  daily  inspirations  from  the  upper  world 
for  which  you  profess  to  hope  ?  Does  not  the  fore- 
sight of  that  eternity  animate  you  in  daily  duty  ? 
Is  not  the  crown  of  glory  such  a  shining  reality, 
and  such  a  splendid  reward,  as  to  call  forth  all  the 
longings  of  your  soul  ?  What  are  you  living  for, 
if  not  for  that  ?  What  oyie  thing  are  you  doing,  if 
not  reaching  forth  for  tliat?     And  amidst  all  the 


THE    FIVE    ''ONE    THINGS."  109 

excitements  of  the  race,  the  perils  of  defeat,  the 
glories  of  victory,  can  you  possibly  help  thinking, 
how  very  soon  the  race  Avill  be  run  and  the  eter- 
nal issue  decided  ?  And  what  can  be  more  certain 
than  that,  as  is  the  course  you  are  running,  so  must 
be  the  goal  ?  You  can  not  expect  to  strain  all  the 
energies  of  your  being  along  the  downward  road, 
and  find  it  just  at  the  last  moment,  by  a  sudden 
turn,  landing  you  into  heaven.  The  very  path 
you  daily  travel  projects  into  eternity;  and  as,  in 
some  of  the  great  cities  which  he  on  both  sides  of 
a  river,  the  very  streets  the  other  side  the  river  match 
with  these  which  you  are  now  traversing  on  this 
side, — and  as  on  one  side  of  the  river  is  your  bus- 
iness, so  on  the  other  side  is  your  residence  and 
rest, — so  far  away  into  the  ages  upon  ages,  these 
same  roads  stretch  on,  and  on,  and  on,  forever 
and  ever.  And  this  one  thing  which  you  do  now 
you  will  do  then  and  eternally. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  there  remains  with  each 
one  for  himself,  but  one  question.  It  regards  tliis 
one  thing !  Are  you  doing  this  ?  I  ask  not  what 
else  you  are  doing  for  yourselves,  for  your  families, 
for  the  world.  Are  you  doing  this  one  thing,  and 
doing  this  in  every  thing,  so  that  every  thing  you 
do  may  resolve  itself  into  this — all  words  of  defin- 
ition into  one  ivord — "For  me  to  live  is  Christ.'' 
"  Not  slothful  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving 
THE  Lord." 


VII. 


''TO   THE  UTTERMOST." 

"Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that 
come  unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  them." — Heb.  vii.  25. 

When  the  Son  of  God  was  born  a  babe  at  Beth- 
lehem, what  should  be  his  name?  What  should 
Gabriel  announce  as  the  charmed  word  by  which 
he  should  be  called — the  title  by  which  he  should 
be  most  familiarly  and  fondly  known  among  the 
crowds  of  sinners,  to  the  end  of  time?  Not  Crea- 
tor, not  Upholder  of  the  Universe,  not  Judge  of 
the  World,  but — Jesus,  Saviour!  The  name  that 
is  above  every  name. 

Tell  me  not  of  other  ability  that  he  has  to  gar- 
nish the  heavens,  and  lay  the  foundations  of  the 
earth,  and  to  raise  the  dead  and  judge  men  and 
angels;  but  tell  me  has  he  abiUty  to  save — at  all 
times,  in  all  extremities,  and  all  classes  of  men? 
Can  he  save  a  chief  sinner,  can  he  save  you  and  me, 
can  he  save  me  now,  as  I  am  ?  Is  he  so  great  a 
Saviour  that  he  can  not  fail  us,  if  we  trust  in  him? 

And  how  is  this  abihty  proven  ?  On  what  grounds 
may  it  be  alleged  without  contradiction? 

He  is  sometimes  set  forth  as  able  to  .save  on  the 
ground  of  his  proper  Godhead.     "Look  unto  me, 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  Ill 

and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  I  am 
God  and  there  is  none  else!"  Here  in  the  text, 
however,  the  apostle  infers  this  saving  ability  from 
his  priestly  character  and  office-work,  as  so  supe- 
rior to  that  of  the  sons  of  Aaron. 

He  is  no  half-way  Saviour,  because  he  has  an 
unchangeable  priesthood,  that  does  not  descend  to 
some  successor  by  reason  of  death.  He  ever  liveth 
to  carry  on  what  he  has  begun  and  to  consummate 
it,  in  every  case,  as  a  complete  and  eternal  salva- 
tion. He  ever  liveth  to  intercede,  to  make  our 
cause  his  own. 

The  undying  intercession  of  Christ  is  here  pre- 
sented as  the  basis  of  his  supreme  ability  to  save. 
If  any  one  would  possibly  think  of  that  interces- 
sion as  if  it  were  the  plea  of  the  Divine  Son  with 
the  Father,  to  overcome  his  enmity  and  to  per- 
suade his  reluctance,  let  him  hear  the  Scriptures — 
"God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

The  argument  here  is  brief  and  conclusive.  As 
the  shepherd  has  his  sheep,  who  are  objects  of  his 
special  care  and  keeping;  as  the  attorney  has  his 
clients,  for  whom  he  pleads  at  law  as  for  none 
others;  as  the  representative  has  his  constituency, 
for  whom  he  stands  and  with  whose  interests  he  is 
charged  to  carry  them  through;  so  Jesus  Christ, 
the  advocate  with  the  Father,  undertakes  the  case 
of  all  those  who  come  unto  God  through  him. 

Of  what  avail  w^ere  the  temple,  altar  and  priest 
of  the  old  economy,  in  all  their  glory,  if  no  man 


112  "TO    THE    UTTERMOST." 

had  come  forward  with  his  lamb  of  sacrifice  ?  The 
priest  ministered  for  sinners  who  needed  expiation, 
and  who  sought  the  priestly  services,  appointed  by 
God  in  such  case;  who  came  bringing  their  lamb 
or  bullock  for  the  altar  with  confession  of  sin,  an  1 
for  all  such  those  Aaronic  high-priests  acted  and 
were  able  to  save,  just  so  far  as  that  ritual  function 
could  suffice.  Jesus,  the  ever-living  High-priest, 
who  is  also  the  Lamb  of  God,  is  able  to  save  all 
who  come  unto  God  by  him. 

And  beyond  all  that  those  ritual  priests  could 
ever  do,  he  is  able  to  save  most  completely  and 
eternally  through  and  through. 

Whoever  seeks  his  priestly  ministrations,  his  sac- 
rifice and  his  intercessions,  finds  him  able  to  save 
unto  the  uttermost.  And  if  any  are  not  saved,  it 
is  only  because  they  have  disdained  his  office-work, 
have  not  committed  their  souls  to  his  hands,  have 
not  sought  his  expiation,  have  not  applied  for 
his  merits,  have  not  besought  him  to  undertake 
for  them,  as  the  true  and  living  Intercessor  and 
Saviour. 

The  idea  of  the  text  is,  that  Jesus  is  no  Jialf-way 
Saviour;  the  exact  language  is,  that  he  is  able  to 
save  unto  completion  or  consummation. 

And  this  is  in  distinction  from  those  Levitical 
priests  of  the  ancient  ritual,  whose  function  was 
external  and  typical.  They  could,  in  a  sense,  save 
only  half-way;  while  they  were  officiating,  too, 
they  died;  they  could  bring  nothing  to  comple- 
tion; they  only  led  to  the  gate-way  of  salvation, 
and  here  they  stood,  in  holy  vestments,  confessing 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  113 

their  inabilit}^  to  deliver  the  soul  from  dcatli,  and 
pointing  forward  to  the  great  High-priest  that  was 
to  come. 

Let  us  consider  in  the  first  place:  Jesus  is  able 
to  save  to  the  uttermost  of  sin  ! 

There  were  certain  crimes  under  the  ^losaic  law 
for  which  no  expiation  could  be  made — so  flagrant, 
so  wilful,  so  capital,  that  they  were  expressly  de- 
barred from  the  priestly  mediation.  But  no  such 
sin  is  set  down  under  the  Gospel,  as  transcend- 
ing the  power  of  Christ's  blood  to  wash  it  a\vay. 
"The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 
For  wilful  murder  and  blasphemy  the  priestly  office, 
under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  could  not  atone; 
but  even  the  murder  of  Jesus  himself  can  be  ex- 
piated by  the  veiy  blood  those  murderers  shed, 
and  even  blasphemy  against  the  Son  of  ]\Ian  is  a 
crime  expressly  marked  as  within  the  scope  of 
forgiveness  under  the  Gospel.  The  murder  of  a 
fellow-creature,  whose  blood,  like  Abel's,  is  crying 
from  the  earth  and  interceding  with  God  for  ven- 
geance, can  be  pardoned  by  the  louder  outcry  of 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  interceding  for  the  criminal's 
salvation. 

See  Saul,  with  a  Satanic  malice,  compelling  fee- 
ble, frightened  Christian  men  and  women  to  blas- 
pheme; but  instead  of  lightning  flashes  of  wrath 
overwhelming  him,  there  come  the  lightning  gleams 
of  mercy  !  Hear  him  testify — "  It  is  a  faithful  say- 
ing and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am 
cUefr 

8 


114  *'T0    THE    UTTERMOST." 

And,  of  all  sins  that  have  ever  been  named  by- 
God  or  man,  there  is  only  one  that  is  counted  unpar- 
donable^ and  that  seems  rather  the  combination  and 
concentration  of  all  in  one — hlaspJiemy  against  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

We  know  not  the  nature  of  it,  only  that  it 
implies  a  settled  malignity  and  despite  that  breaks 
out  against  the  sweet  Spirit  of  grace — against  the 
only  Power  that  can  reach  and  renovate  the  soul. 
It  is  a  malignity  that  would  grieve  the  Spirit  and 
quench  the  Spirit  and  resist  the  Spirit,  so  as  madly 
to  spurn  all  his  gentle  and  gracious  and  saving 
offices.  And  it  would  seem  to  be  only  a  consum- 
mation of  all  those  resistances  and  oppositions  to 
which  an  incorrigible  soul  may  be  given  over,  to 
dash  the  cup  of  life  from  its  very  lips  and  to 
trample  under  foot  the  son  of  God,  doing  despite 
unto  the  spirit  of  grace. 

And  then  beyond  the  official  ability  there  is  also 
an  effective  ability  here  provided,  which  carries  on 
the  salvation  through  and  through  to  the  rooting 
out  of  the  most  stubborn  and  desperate  sin. 

Sinful  habits  will  seem  to  defy  the  divine  power 
in  the  heart  and  life ;  besetting  sins  long  cherished 
will  still  get  the  mastery.  No  wonder  that  the 
Christian  cries  out  at  times — "Oh,  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  meV"  Can  all  such 
evil  tempers  and  mad  passions  be  eradicated?  Can 
this  legion  of  devils  be  exorcised?  All  of  them. 
And  the  man  who  had  wandered  among  the  tombs, 
raving  and  gashing  himself — can  he  be  so  thorough- 
ly made  a  new  creature  as  to  be  found  sitting  at  the 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  115 

feet  of  Jesus  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind  ?  Yes. 
It  has  been  done!  It  can  be  done  again!  This  is 
the  great  salvation — a  process  going  on  within  us, 
saving  us  to-day  from  the  sins  of  yesterday,  and 
saving  us,  through  and  through,  to  the  end. 

He  saves  to  the  uttermost  The  poor  besotted 
creature  who  has  been  a  beastly  slave  to  his  cups, 
even  he  is  lifted  up  by  Jesus  from  this  degrada- 
tion, and  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  man  again. 
The  profane  swearer,  whose  every  sentence  was 
intensified  by  an  oath,  is  brought  to  loathe  the 
fiendish  habit  that  so  associates  a  man,  prema- 
turely, with  the  world  of  curses  and  the  abode  of 
the  lost.  The  gambler  and  the  Sabbath-breaker, 
who  had  become  so  addicted  to  their  cherished 
vices  as  to  have  made  them  a  second  nature,  are 
led  to  put  them  off  as  their  shame,  and  to  dread 
them  as  their  ruin.  And  the  grovelling,  debased 
idolater  of  mammon,  who  has  sold  himself  to  cov- 
etousness  and  greed,  even  he  is  raised  up  out  of 
the  dust  of  his  idolatries  and  has  his  heart  opened 
to  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

There  can  be  no  complete  salvation  which  does 
not  complete  this  deliverance  from  sin — from  all 
sinful  tastes,  impulses,  habits  and  principles — how- 
ever inbred  and  however  stubborn  to  the  last.  He 
Avill  present  us  faultless!  It  seems  impossible  I 
know!     But  it  is  not  impossible  to  divine  grace. 

But,  secondly^  Jesus  is  able  to  save,  to  the  utter- 
most of  mental  infirmity. 

It  is  the  glory  of  the  Gospel  plan  that  it  reaches 
the  divine  arm  down  to  the  lowest  depth  of  hu- 


116  "TO    THE    UTTERMOST." 

mankind.  The  poor  child  of  ignorance  can  not 
say,  "  This  is  too  high  for  me,  I  am  no  scholar." 
Jesus  comes  with  his  precious,  glorious  Gospel,  and 
it  is  found  to  be  for  hahes.  Only  the  boasted  wise 
and  prudent  can  not  understand  it.  The  very  sim- 
plicity of  its  teachings  and  of  its  terms  hides  it 
from  such.  The  more  they  philosophize  and  spec- 
ulate and  apply  the  logic  of  the  schools,  the  more 
they  overlay  the  gems  with  rubbish  and  go  blind 
in  their  own  light.  But  the  children  see  it  while 
the  parents  hesitate  and  doubt. 

It  was  so  at  Jerusalem.  The  boys  and  girls, 
such  as  gather  at  our  Sabbath-schools,  came  rush- 
ing out  of  the  Temple  and  greeted  him  with  hosan- 
nas,  while  the  proud  Pharisees  and  Scribes  rebuked 
them  as  disturbers  of  the  peace.  They  called  it 
puerile,  but  Jesus  understood  it  and  accepted  it 
as  an  ovation  to  him,  next  to  the  song  of  the 
angels. 

And  then,  how  the  Sabbath-school  classes  sit 
at  his  feet,  and  sing  their  sweet  anthems  to  his 
praise,  and  come  thronging  in  his  footsteps  and 
crowding  at  his  table,  while  so  many  adults  scorn 
to  be  learners  and  so  never  find  out  that  he  is  Je- 
sus. Oh !  when  shall  our  Jerusalem  be  full  of  boys 
tmd  girls  playing  in  the  streets  thereof!  When 
the  time  shall  come  that  Jesus  shall  be  confessed 
and  followed  by  the  children  with  their  hosannas, 
then  shall  be  the  time  of  Christ's  triumphal  entry 
into  the  church  and  the  world. 

And  further,  thirdly.  He  is  able  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  of  present  deficiency  and  disability. 


"  TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  117 

Thousands  under  the  Gospel  have  not  under- 
stood this.  Here  it  is,  precisely,  that  we  stand  to- 
day, exhorting  men  to  believe  and  be  saved.  This 
is  just  the  credence  and  confidence  he  asks,  that 
he  can  save  you  to-day — this  moment — as  you 
are — where  you  are — sinner  though  you  are — able 
to  save  the  most  unable ! 

You  believe  that  he  is  able  to  save  some  certain 
ones,  who  have  fulfilled  certain  conditions ;  all 
who  come  unto  God,  by  him,  aright — who  come 
penitent,  broken-hearted,  believing — but  not  you^ 
who  are  none  of  these,  and  who  have  no  right 
afi'ections  whatever,  and  therefore  you  are  waiting 
till  you  can  get  in  a  condition  to  be  saved  by  him. 
If  you  are  in  a  condition  to  desire  his  salvation, 
that  is  the  very  condition  in  which  he  loves  to 
save. 

You  ask  me  if  he  can  save  you  without  any 
further  preliminaries  or  preparations  ?  Yes !  But 
you  say;  "Where  is  the  new  heart  to  come  from?" 
That  he  will  give.  "Where  is  the  faith  to  come 
from  ? "  That  he  gives.  You  demand  then  to 
know,  if  you  may  from  this  moment  rest  upon 
him  your  whole  salvation?  Yes;  it  is  just  this. 
Must  you,  then,  first  of  all — now — this  hour — put 
your  whole  case  into  the  hands  of  this  Intercessor, 
call  him  your  Saviour,  and  count  all  the  benefits 
of  his  finished  work  on  earth  and  his  eternal  work 
in  heaven  yours?  Yes.  What  warrant  has  any 
one  to  go  to  any  other  being  in  the  universe  for 
any  part  of  the  salvation?  What  warrant  has  any 
sinner  to  delay,  one  moment^  his  acceptance  of  Je- 


118  "TO    THE    UTTERMOST." 

BUS  as  liis  Saviour,  when  the  atoning  work  is  all 
done,  and  the  Gospel  is  proclaimed  to  all  Avith  all 
the  glad  tidings,  and  the  water  of  life  is  gushing 
from  the  fountain  freely  and  for  all  ? 

You  ask  me :  "  Is  there  then  nothing  for  the  ap- 
plicant to  do,  but  to  read  here  the  message  and  to 
say — ^^  Jesus  is  mine!''  and  to  live  in  the  blessed, 
grateful  confidence  of  this  fact?  Nothing  to  do, 
but  this.  To  whomsoever  this  Gospel  is  glad  tid- 
ings, to  him  it  is  the  Gospel. 

AVhen  will  men  understand  that  Jesus  is  able  to 
save  to  the  uttermost — not  half-way,  but  through 
and  through,  from  beginning  to  end.  The  poor 
African  understood  it  in  that  favorite  couplet: 

"I  am  a  poor  sinner,  and  nothing  at  all, 
But  Jesus  Christ  is  my  all  in  all." 

Jesus  said,  "To  the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached." 
Of  what  avail  is  it  that  I  give  a  man  a  draft  for 
a  thousand  pounds,  payable  to  his  order,  if  he  will 
not  believe  it  is  for  him,  or  for  his  present  use, 
apart  from  all  considerations  ?  He  says,  "  How  can 
it  be  ?  This  is  not  for  me.  I  have  never  earned 
it.  There  is  some  mistake.  I  have  no  claim  upon 
this  party,  none  whatever;  to  say  nothing  of  such 
an  amount.  It  may  be  for  some  other  one  of  my 
name,  or  even  for  me  upon  some  unexpressed  con- 
ditions, but  surely  not  for  me  as  a  free  gift!"  and 
he  will  not  even  endorse  his  name  upon  the  back 
of  the  draft  nor  apply  for  the  money  at  the  bank. 
So  it  is  with  multitudes  who  disbelieve  and  to 
whom  it  is  as  though  Jesus  had  never  died. 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  119 

You  have  seen  men  also,  who  would  not  allow 
you  to  help  them,  whose  vicious  proclivities  made 
all  your  solicitude  vain  and  your  utmost  bounty 
useless. 

In  this  light  I  protest  that  this  salvation  is  as 
universal  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit.  It 
is  proclaimed  freely  to  "Whosoever  will"  and  what 
can  be  freer  than  that  ?  How  can  there  be  a  sal- 
vation for  those  who  wiU  not?  The  Bible  will  com- 
pel no  man's  belief;  God  will  thrust  no  man  into 
heaven  against  his  convictions  and  against  his 
will.  No  !  No  ! !  If  you  want  it,  take  it — take 
it  as  a  gift — for  it  is  even  such  an  absolute  gratu- 
ity that  you  can  have  it  no  otherwise  than  as  a 

gift. 

But^  fourthly,  Jesus  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most of  temptation! 

The  strife  is  sometimes  severe.  As  against  the 
Tempter  and  all  his  power,  and  all  his  hellish  arts, 
Jesus  is  omnipotent  to  save.  No  matter  hoAv  ma- 
levolent be  the  devices  which  the  arch-adversary 
plies  to  the  ruin  of  a  believer,  following  him  on 
through  life,  Jesus  does  not  allow  him  to  pluck 
any  soul  out  of  his  hands. 

The  secret  of  this  is  found  in  that  wonderful, 
all-powerful  intercession  with  which  he  bears  the 
tempted  one  upon  his  bosom  at  the  right  hand  on 
high.  And  just  because  he  can  not  die,  the  inter- 
cession can  not  cease,  nor  can  the  cause  which  he 
has  undertaken  be  relinquished;  nor  can  he  ever 
be  found  inactive,  or  indifferent,  or  unequal  to  the 
case.     But  always   pleading  and   always   pi-evail- 


120  *'T0    THE    UTTERMOST." 

ing,  as  he  is,  Satan  can  not  snatch  any  one,  of 
tlie  weakest  even,  from  his  covenant  grasp. 

Look  at  Peter.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  strug- 
gle there — that  heaven  and  hell  were  contending 
for  that  apostle.  Jesus  tells  him  plainly:  "Satan 
hath  desired  to  have  yon,  that  he  may  sift  you  as 
wheat,  but" — hut — "J  have  prayed  for  thee,  that 
thy  faith  fail  not !  "     Ah,  there  is  the  secret. 

So  with  the  mart;)T-maid  of  Scotland,  when  the 
persecutors  bound  her  to  the  stake  on  the  sea- 
beach,  where  soon  the  rising  tide  would  come  in 
upon  her  and  drown  her  in  the  flood.  There  are 
the  frowning  soldiers  clamoring  for  her  recanta- 
tion !  There  are  the  advancing  waves  steadily  ap- 
proaching !  She  can  overhear  the  cries  of  her  elder 
sister,  tied  at  a  forward  stake  and  just  now  drown- 
ing in  the  surge.  They  only  demand  of  her  to 
say :  "  God  save  the  king ! "  The  mother  in  the 
crowd  cries  out  to  her,  "  My  bonnie  Margaret,  give 
in  and  dinna  break  my  heart;"  but  she  sings:  "To 
thee,  0  God,  I  lift  my  soul."  It  seems  the  least 
possible  abjuration  of  her  Saviour,  but  that  Saviour 
is  precious  to  her,  just  because  he  is  so  mighty  to 
save,  and  she  feels  tlie  power  of  his  intercessions 
sustaining  her  in  her  fearful  straits.  Old  ocean 
thunders  out  to  her  the  voice  of  God  in  all  the 
promises, 

"And 
The  tide  flows  in  and,  rising  to  her  throat, 
She  sang  no  more,  but  Hfted  up  her  face 
And  there  was  glory  over  all  the  sky, 
And  there  was  glory  over  all  the  sea — 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  121 

A  flood  of  glory— and  the  lifted  face 
Swam  in  it,  till  it  bowed  beneath  the  flood 
And  Scotland's  maiden  martyr  went  to  God." 

So  Avith  many  a  weak  fi-ame  that  goes  boldly  to 
the  stake  and  embraces  the  fiery  cross  of  martyr- 
dom. There  is  no  principle  on  which  you  can  ac- 
count for  such  heroic  fortitude  and  such  unflinch- 
ing faith,  except  that  he  who  prayed  for  Peter  that 
his  faith  should  not  fail,  was  praying  for  these  also. 

So  with  the  serf  of  some  cruel  despot;  he  is 
commanded  to  renounce  his  religion.  No!  It  is 
not  that  he  is  free  to  seek  another  home,  it  is  not 
that  he  has  friends  and  helpers,  it  is  not  that  he 
has  money  in  bank,  it  is  not  that  he  has  any  earth- 
ly recourse  from  his  infuriated  master.  No  !  It  is 
only  that  he  has  a  Master  in  heaven  whom  he  will 
serve,  and  from  whose  love  no  threats  nor  tortures 
can  separate  him. 

And  so,  the  poor  tempted  one,  who  is  always 
trembling,  ahvays  doubting — looking  to  the  Spir- 
it's unfinished  work  within  for  some  ground  of 
hope,  instead  of  to  Christ's  finished  work  without 
where  the  Tempter  has  almost  bafiled  the  weak 
beginnings  of  trust,  has  almost  wrested  fi-om  the 
worrying  mind  the  first,  faint,  feeble  confidence — 
even  here  Jesus  saves.  That  germ  of  grace  he  has 
implanted,  that  faint  spark  of  faith,  he  will  fan  yet 
to  a  fiame.  He  does  not  break  the  bruised  reed 
nor  quench  the  smoking  flax,  but  he  brings  forth 
judgment  unto  victory. 

But  again,  Jesus  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost 
of  lowly  condition  in  life. 


122 

Look  at  Lazarus,  whose  friends  can  only  lay 
him  daily  at  the  rich  man's  gate,  if,  possibly,  he 
may  get  some  of  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  that 
lordly  table.  Who  will  save  Lazarus?  The  dogs, 
that  lie  in  lazy  groups  on  the  sunny  streets  of  that 
oriental  city,  will  gather  round  him  as  if  he  were 
cast  out  there  to  rot  in  his  beggary  and  sores. 
But  within  the  veil  that  hides  from  us  the  invisible 
world,  angels  are  busy  preparing  to  escort  that  dy- 
ing beggar  to  the  choicest  mansion  in  Paradise. 
Who  would  not  rather  be  Lazarus  than  Dives? 

But  who  will  save  that  miserable  wretch  who, 
writhing  on  his  cross  at  Jerusalem,  expiating  to 
the  law  his  treason  against  the  state — that  insur- 
rectionist who  had  imbued  his  hands  in  blood  and 
been  brought  to  the  cursed  tree  along  with  Jesus 
— who  is  most  forlorn,  most  helpless,  most  forsaken 
of  friends,  most  destitute  and  desolate — to  whom 
salvation  seems  impossible?  Jesus  is  able  to  save 
— able  to  save  to  the  uttermost — able  to  save  to- 
day in  answer  to  the  faint  and  faltering  cry  for 
remembrance  at  a  future  coming  in  his  kingdom — 
beyond  all  expectation,  beyond  all  conception  of 
ability  and  success,  he  can  do  it  and  he  will. 

The  widow  of  Nain  with  her  only  son  upon  the 
bier,  the  sisters  of  Bethany  with  their  only  brother 
in  the  grave,  the  ruler  Jairus  with  his  only  daugh- 
ter dead  in  her  sweet  childhood  before  his  eyes — 
he  can  save,  even  there.  No  condition  in  life  where 
he  can  not  save,  no  case  so  helpless  and  hopeless 
as  to  be  beyond  the  sphere  of  his  salvation,  for  all 
who  come  unto  God  through  him. 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  123 

But,  filially.  Jesus  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most limit  of  this  mortal  existence. 

I  know  that,  on  all  common  human  calculations, 
you  would  say,  ^^ It  can  not  he  so/"  that  the  man 
who  has  spent  his  lifetime  in  rejecting  Jesus,  and 
has  wasted  his  energies  in  opposition  to  his  Gospel, 
can  not  be  accepted  at  the  last  moment.  I  know 
that,  while  I  mvist  speak  the  truth  on  this  point, 
that  truth  will  be  abused.     But  it  is  still  true ! 

And  this  is  the  sublimity  and  glory  of  the  grace, 
that  it  can  overleap  all  a  man's  life-long  misdo- 
ings, and  make  good  the  Gospel  word,  even  at  the 
dying  moment.  The  poor  worldling  Avho  comes 
up  to  the  brink  of  eternity  full  of  his  avarice  and 
folly,  and  dreaming  yet  of  gains  and  gold  while 
death  is  on  his  clammy  brow,  even  he  may  hear  the 
Gospel  word  and  live.  Yes,  my  hearer,  for  tlie 
same  Gospel  news  is  published  to  all,  and  it  does 
not  except  any  who  will.  We  have  no  other  Gos- 
pel for  such  extreme  cases  than  the  same  which  we 
have  for  you,  in  health  and  buoyancy  to-day.  The 
dying  thief,  recent  from  his  robbery  and  murder, 
and  with  the  words  of  reviling  fresh  upon  his  lips, 
even  he,  from  his  cross,  may  lift  his  dying  prayer 
to  Jesus  from  a  heart  of  true  desire,  which  merges 
into  humble  faith  as  he  is  welcomed  the  same  day 
to  Paradise. 

Ah,  my  hearer,  the  difficulty  with  death-bed  re- 
pentance is  not  in  Jesics.  No!  It  is  not  that  he 
withholds  his  salvation  at  that  utmost  limit  of  life 
in  a  just  retaliation,  or  because  it  makes  him  take 
up  with  the  devil's  leavings  I     No!     Even  this  he 


124  **T0    THE    UTTERMOST." 

will  do,  and  welcome  the  returning  prodigal  when 
he  is  starving  to  death,  and  seeking  refuge  from 
amidst  the  husks  and  the  swine  of  his  profligacy ! 
But  the  difficulty  is  with  the  man  himself,  that 
having  been  all  his  lifetime  running  down  the 
steep,  he  can  not  at  his  mere  option  turn  back, 
any  more  than  Niagara  can  leap  back  with  all  its 
floods  up  the  steep  precipice.  Having  all  his  days 
blinded  his  mind  and  poisoned  his  thoughts  with 
unbelief,  he  can  not  now  easily  dismiss  his  cavils 
and  receive  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Jesus  is 
able  as  ever,  ready  as  ever!  It  is  not  that  the 
stubbornness  of  that  long  persistency  in  sin  has 
steeled  his  divine  heart  to  the  dying  outcries.  No  ! 
His  Gospel  comes  still  the  same,  "Ho,  every  one 
that  thirsteth,  come:  weary  and  heavy-laden  ones, 
come  ye,  without  money  and  without  price;  who- 
soever will,  let  him  take."  But  now  the  man  him- 
self can  not  credit  his  ability ;  he  can  not  be  per- 
suaded that  there  is  any  salvation  for  such  an  one, 
at  such  a  last  moment;  his  own  conscience  turns 
against  him  and  cries  out,  "Jbo  late;''  Satan,  who 
will  fain  seize  the  departing  spirit,  taunts  him  with 
the  ciy,  "Jbo  late;''  and  just  because  the  man  has 
never  known  Christ — never  listened  to  his  love — 
he  finds  himself  when  he  would  wish  to  believe, 
doubting^  hesitating,  distrusting,  denying,  despairing! 
And  amidst  this  self-imposed  and  cherished  dark- 
ness, he  sinks  into  the  blackness  of  darkness,  self- 
condemned,  heaping  reproaches  upon  his  own  soul, 
and  can't  believe  that  Jesus  is  able  to  save  so  to  the 
uttermost!     But  he  is!     I  tell  him  that  he  is,  but 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  125 

he  can't  believe  it,  yet  Jesus  must  be  credited  and 
trusted ;  for  in  the  trusting  spirit  is  the  peace  and 
joy  of  his  salvation — the  germ  of  life  and  blessed- 
ness and  glory. 

And  thus,  also,  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most in  nature's  final  hour.  Where  human  power 
can  go  no  further — where  best  friends,  with  all 
their  fondest  love,  have  done  their  utmost — watch- 
ing, soothing,  helping  against  the  advances  of  the 
last  enemy,  until  now  the  dear  one  is  given  up 
as  beyond  the  reach  of  kindliest  sympathies — tlien, 
far  out  at  life's  uttermost  verge,  another  work  is 
going  on.  The  friend  that  sticketh  closer  than 
a  brother  is  busy  there,  and  spirit  with  spirit  is 
communing  there,  and  the  king's  servants  are 
hovering  around  the  dying  couch  there,  whisper- 
ing of  heaven  and  ready  to  be  the  escort  to  glory. 
And  in  the  very  article  of  dissolution,  when  the 
farewells  have  been  all  spoken  and  no  name  of 
wife  or  husband  or  child  or  parent  stirs  any  sensi- 
bility any  longer,  and  you  say  it  is  ^^ death"  and 
you  feel  no  pulse  any  more — even  then,  the  name 
of  Jesus  will  rouse  the  dying  pulses  that  seem  ut- 
terly gone,  and  there  will  be  a  response  from  the 
very  embrace  of  death  to  that  Name  which  is  above 
every  name,  as  the  Conqueror  of  Death  and  Hell ! 
Oh !  I  have  seen  it.  The  last  dying  smik,  which 
no  other  salutation  could  command,  plays  upon 
the  pallid  features  at  the  mention  of  that  magic 
name. 

That  dying  senator!  The  scene  was  beautiful 
as  the  beautiful  gates  that  he  saw  opening  into 


126  *'T0    THE    UTTERMOST." 

glory.  Looking  out,  as  he  did,  for  the  last  time 
upon  the  nation's  Capitol,  and  the  sun  shining  on 
its  dome,  and  then  up  to  the  great  white  throne 
and  the  starry  seats  that  circle  it,  and  the  Father's 
house,  where  all  the  good  and  truly  great  of  the 
race  are  fast  gathering — that  was  the  Christian 
statesman  dying. 

And  then  I  have  seen  the  dear  little  ones  die — 
the  Christian  children  —  and  they  saw  the  same 
beautiful  gates  as  this  Christian  statesman  saw, 
and  they  cried  out  as  he  did — '^  Beautiful^  heauti- 
fuV —  as  they  were  borne  by  the  angels  to  the 
same  heavenly  home. 

And  then,  observe  that  at  that  uttermost  ex- 
tremity, when  all  earthly  helpers  must  give  up  and 
can  do  no  further  work  of  relief  or  of  salvation, 
Jesus  goes  on  to  save — triumphs  there  as  the  only 
Saviour,  displays  his  supreme  and  matchless  abil- 
ity to  save  through  and  through.  Where  death 
and  the  grave  boldly  defy  any  and  all  others,  see 
how  HE  saves  to  the  very  completion — saves  even 
from  the  fear  of  death,  saves  from  the  bitterness 
and  sting  of  death,  saves  from  impatience  and  re- 
pining amidst  the  dying  agonies,  saves  even  from 
all  these  overwhelming  anxieties  that  you  would 
think  must  make  the  death-bed  of  a  fond  parent 
so  terrible,  where  the  orphan  children  must  be  left 
behind  without  earthly  provision.  And  there  you 
see  the  salvation  in  the  triumphant  calm  and  peace 
wrought  out  for  the  departing  spirit,  and  victory 
sits  upon  the  brow,  and  a  longing,  longing  for  the 
heavenly  home  seems  to  throw  the  fondest  earthly 


"TO    THE    UTTERMOST."  127 

home  into  the  shade!  And  the  heavenly  society — 
kindred  and  friends  tliat  are  there — seem  so  ineffa- 
bly attractive  as  to  make  those  dear  ones  that  were 
most  doted  on  here  only  secondary  and  inferior  in 
their  charms. 

And  all  this  is  the  proof — the  shining  proof — 
that  Jesus  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost.  And 
the  secret  of  all  this  is  that  yonder  in  heaven  at 
the  Father's  side  he  is  busy  in  his  intercessions 
—  the  living  Saviour — actively  officiating  for  his 
dying  children  where  the  dying  Stephen  saw  him 
— praying  that  they  may  be  with  him  where  he  is, 
that  they  may  behold  his  glory,  and  so  he  comes 
down  and  meets  them  in  the  dark  valley,  with  his 
shepherd  rod  and  staff,  and  stands  at  the  dying 
bed,  vanquishing  Satan  and  hushing  his  malicious 
accusations,  and  whispering  peace!  And  his  own 
Spirit — the  Blessed  third  Person  of  the  Trinity — 
is  making  responsive  intercessions  in  the  heart, 
with  groanings  that  can  not  be  uttered,  taking 
of  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing  them  to  the 
inward  sight  while  the  natural  eye  is  sealing  up 
in  death,  opening  the  vision  to  celestial  glories  at 
the  very  moment  that  it  is  utterly  closed  to  earth — 

"Trembling,  hoping — ^lingering,  flying, 
Oh !  the  pain — the  bliss  of  dying." 

"Oh !  had  we  learned  what  death  alone  brings  nigh, 
The  dread  had  been  to  live  and  not  to  die." 


VIII. 

PERSONAL  LOVE   OF  JESUS. 

**Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus." — 
John  xi.  5. 

The  personal  love  of  Jesus  is  that  of  which  we 
find  it  hard  to  be  persuaded ;  especially,  as  respects 
ourselves,  that  the  risen,  glorified  God-man,  from 
his  throne,  loves  me;  loves  me — a  sinner  as  I  am 
— loves  me  by  name,  loves  me  as  distinct  and  dif- 
ferent fi-om  all  others,  loves  me  with  all  my  infirm- 
ities, loves  me  with  any  such  love  as  we  feel  and 
value  in  our  human  circles — ^this  is  hard  to  esti- 
mate and  apply.  Yet  the  whole  Gospel  is  based 
upon  the  idea  of  personal  love — that  makes  it  good 
news  and  glad  tidings  to  individuals,  and  not  mere- 
ly to  the  race  in  general. 

And  love  itself,  if  it  were  only  universal  and  not 
particular,  if  it  were  only  judicial  and  governmental 
and  not  personal,  would  not  be  valued  by  any  of 
us.  Nay,  even  such  fatherhood  as  is  claimed  by 
those  who  hold  God  equally  bound  to  all,  and  in- 
discriminate, therefore,  in  his  salvation,  can  have 
no  perceptible,  sensible  weight  with  any  man  to 
control  his  living.  It  is  practically  nought  until 
it  comes  home  to  himself  and  reaches  his  individual 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  129 

case.  For,  if  the  love  that  is  felt  towards  me  is 
only  a  sort  of  official  love,  then  I  do  not  value  it 
as  appealing  to  my  heart;  if  it  is  an  in  discriminat- 
ing love,  only  the  same  to  me  as  to  all  men,  then 
I  do  not  feel  the  sweet  constraint  of  it,  with  all  its 
claims  to  a  loving  return;  if  it  lay  no  demand  for 
holy  living,  and  make  no  provision  whatever  for 
personal  character,  then  I  can  not  respect  it,  as 
worthy  of  consideration.  The  Gospel  provision, 
though  it  proclaim  good- will  to  men  in  general,  is, 
nevertheless,  in  its  whole  idea,  a  provision  for  men 
in  particular ;  and  the  salvation  can  be  applied  only 
as  it  comes  home  to  each  case  by  itself,  and  makes 
its  claims  personal  in  all  their  application. 

Love  therefore  is,  in  its  very  nature,  special  and 
partial.  This  is  its  ruling  idea.  It  finds  a  per- 
sonal object  among  others  on  which  it  fixes  wdth 
fond  afi'ection,  and  it  is  only  by  such  personal 
choice  that  one  or  another  comes  to  be  a  special 
recipient  of  one's  love.  Out  of  such  affinities  grow 
all  the  tender  and  endearing  relations  which  pre- 
vail among  creatures.  And  God  himself  recog- 
nizes this  high  law  of  love  for  his  own  action. 

But  we  can  not  readily  feel  the  force  of  Jesus' 
love,  as  we  can  feel  that  of  fellow-creatures.  It 
seems  so  theoretical,  so  merely  doctrinal  and  theo- 
logical. It  is  hard  to  bring  it  to  any  sensible  real- 
ization— as  if  we  could  feel  his  warm  hand  grasp- 
ing ours,  or  his  warm  embrace,  or  his  loving  kiss, 
pressing  us  to  his  heart. 

And  yet,  if  we  consider,  his  love  must  be  even 
more  real  and  more  personal  than  that  of  fondest 
9 


130  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

friends.  If  he  could  come  to  our  home,  and  lodge 
under  our  roof,  and  sit  at  our  table,  in  the  flesh, 
as  he  did  in  the  family  at  Bethany,  this  would 
make  it  more  real  to  our  apprehension.  If  we 
could  see  him  coming  in  at  our  door  at  our  call 
of  distress,  if  we  could  see  his  tears  of  sympathy 
at  the  grave  of  a  brother,  if  we  could  hear  him 
summon  our  dead  from  the  tomb — then  we  could 
value  the  love  as  something  more  than  human. 
But  he  is  distant,  he  is  invisible.  And  yet  he  is 
personally  present  with  us,  only  not  in  the  flesh; 
all  the  while  present,  as  he  could  not  be  in  the 
flesh ;  more  really  and  fully  and  efi*ectively  present 
than  he  could  ever  be  in  the  body.  He  is  able  to 
succor  us  in  every  case,  more  able,  by  far,  than  if 
he  were  bound  to  those  earthly  conditions  of  his 
humiliation. 

And  now  the  question  is  simply  a  personal  one. 
Does  Jesus  love  me?  If  so,  is  he  then  daily  and 
hourly  caring  for  me,  keeping  me  ?  Is  it  his  hand 
that  preserved  me  in  that  peril,  sheltered  me  from 
that  blow,  raised  me  from  that  sickness.  Nay, 
was  the  physician's  counsel  and  remedy  his  ac- 
tual agency  by  another  hand  ?  And  am  I  to 
thank  him  for  the  daily  bread  and  for  the  night's 
repose  ?  Can  I  so  receive  and  believe  it  ?  This  is 
the  practical  difliculty.  And  hence  we  are  prone 
to  go  as  if  there  were  no  Jesus'  love  beating  in 
his  heart  towards  us,  or  as  if  the  truth,  in  this 
respect,  were  only  the  cold  doctrine  of  a  creed, 
and  not  a  living  reality. 

The  passage  before  us  tells  us  of  Jesus'  love  to 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  131 

a  family  group  at  Bethany.  The  announcement 
is  brief.  It  descends  to  no  particulars  as  to  the 
personal  grounds,  only  it  includes  the  household. 
This  is  beautiful. 

The  household  covenant  is  a  feature  of  both 
economies  of  grace.  It  was  instituted  as  the  lead- 
ing feature  of  the  covenant  with  Abraham,  and 
looked  to  his  generations  so  distinctly  and  spe- 
cially as  to  require  the  sacramental  seal  of  this 
household  relationship.  The  family  itself  is  God's 
institution,  and  it  was  meant  to  subserve  a  glorious 
design  in  the  economy  of  grace.  Else,  why  did 
he  set  the  solitary  in  families,  why  did  he  reveal 
himself  as  having  a  love  for  the  households  of  his 
people,  except  it  were  to  sanctify  those  relations, 
and  to  make  all  that  special  influence  that  clusters 
round  the  family  hearth  a  ministry  of  grace  and 
salvation?  At  the  beginning,  the  church  was  in 
the  house.  And  this  is  still  and  always,  the  fun- 
damental, vital  idea.  Family  religion  is  in  order 
to  sanctuary  ordinances  and  church  privileges,  and 
it  is  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  church. 

God  perpetuates  his  church  by  means  of  a  pious 
posterity.  If  there  had  been  no  sacrament  of  in- 
fant baptism  in  the  Christian  church,  this  would 
have  seemed  such  a  defect  in  the  light  of  the  past 
economy,  and  in  the  ^dew  of  our  natural  constitu- 
tion in  the  household,  that  we  should  have  heard 
the  Jew  clamoring  against  the  Gospel  as  being 
narrow  and  restrictive,  and  as  denying  to  him 
the  benefits  which  he  enjoyed  for  his  house,  un- 
der the  old  dispensation.     Nay,  more,  I  think  par- 


132  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

ents  would  scarcely  have  been  encouraged  to  bring 
their  infant  ciiildren  to  the  arms  of  Jesus  for  his 
blessing,  and  he  would  scarcely  have  uttered  to 
them  those  precious  words,  "  Suffer  the  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Nay,  further. 
If  there  had  been  found  no  baptism  for  households 
— such  as  Lydia's  and  the  jailer's — we  are  sure 
that  there  would  have  been  a  loud  call  for  such 
an  ordinance  to  take  the  place  of  circumcision,  as 
a  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace. 

The  whole  question  of  infant  haptism  resolves 
itself  into  the  simple  question  of  the  unity  of 
Scripture  and  the  unity  of  the  old  and  new  dis- 
pensations. And  hence,  they  who  have  denied 
infant  baptism,  as  belonging  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, have  been  forced,  in  distinguished  instances, 
to  deny  the  obligation  of  the  Old  Testament  upon 
the  Christian  church,  as  a  rule  of  life. 

And  the  whole  Christian  instinct  cries  out  against 
this,  and  every  parental  instinct  cries  out  against 
the  denial  of  a  sacramental  ordinance  for  the  chil- 
dren. How  can  we  look  upon  the  dear  children 
at  Christmas-time  and  bid  them  be  happy  in  the 
birth  of  the  Bethlehem  Babe,  and  yet  hold  them 
to  be  excluded  from  the  covenant  blessings  by  the 
Lord  Jesus — as  if  the  covenant  with  Abraham  had 
been  a  grand  mistake,  and  as  if  Christ  Jesus  had 
not  come  as  a  child  in  order  to  express  his  sympa- 
thy with  the  children,  and  to  compass  them  about 
with  the  arms  of  his  love.  It  is  just  by  such  means 
as  this  household  baptism  that  Jesus  Christ  would 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  133 

have  his  religion  introduced  into  the  family,  and 
would  have  our  children  marked  as  his  from  the 
first,  just  as  the  oriental  shepherd  took  pains  to 
put  his  brand  upon  the  lambs,  for  they  were  most 
in  danger  of  going  astray. 

This  household  at  Bethany  is  a  household  of  the 
children,  as  Abraham's  household  was — the  sisters 
and  an  only  brother  are  here — where  the  parents 
are  no  more.  And  all  along  the  list  they  are  re- 
corded as  Christ's — Martha,  her  sister,  and  Lazarus. 

What  a  blessed  home!  How  close  the  affinity 
and  how  sacred  the  joy  in  each  other's  love !  No 
one  of  them  outside!  No  antagonisms,  therefore, 
as  where  the  chm^ch  and  the  world  are  brought 
into  conflict  in  the  same  home  circle!  No  painful 
anxieties,  as  where  one  straying  one  is  watched 
by  sisterly  care  and  counsel,  all  in  vain.  "  J/ar^Aa, 
and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus!"  All  of  them  bound 
up  together  in  the  bundle  of  eternal  love. 

But  we  notice  further,  that  it  was  Jesus'  love  to 
that  family,  not  in  the  general,  but  in  the  particular! 
It  was  to  each  of  them  by  name. 

And  this  included  personal  peculiarities,  differ- 
ences of  taste  and  temper — I  know  not  what.  We 
can  already  see  how  Martha  differed  from  Mary, 
and  yet  Jesus  loved  them  both;  the  careful,  anx- 
ious housekeeper,  as  well  as  the  devout  worship- 
per at  his  feet.  For  Mary  also  kept  the  house,  and 
]\Iartha  also  sat  at  Jesus'  feet,  though  not  in  the 
same  proportion  of  time  and  attention.  These  ex- 
cesses of  Martha's  carefulness  he  will  correct  by  his 
seasonable  counsels,  and  he  will  encourage  Mary's 


134  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

devoutiiess  by  his  loving  word  of  approval.  And 
Lazarus — he  also  was  an  object  of  Jesus'  love.  He 
was  loved  as  a  young  man — as  one  of  nearly  his 
own  age  —  and  therefore  of  his  close  companion- 
ship, who  was  known  therefore  as  one  of  his  spe- 
cial favorites  at  Bethany. 

Jesus  loved  the  sisters. 

Who  says  that  this  religion  is  good  enough  for 
the  women?  This  is  its  highest  encomium — that 
it  comes  home  to  the  culture  and  refinement  and 
tenderness  of  womankind.  Woman  was  every- 
where smiled  upon  and  lifted  up  from  her  oriental 
degradation  and  blessed  by  him.  He  stood  related 
to  woman  as  he  did  not  to  man,  as  no  other  being 
did — with  a  human  mother  and  no  human  father. 
No  Avonder  that  the  women,  all  the  way  from  Gal- 
ilee, followed  him  in  Judea  and  ministered  to  him 
of  their  substance.  No  wonder  that  the  daugh- 
ters of  Jerusalem  wept  after  him  as  he  staggered 
under  the  weight  of  his  cross.  No  wonder  that 
the  Marys  were  last  at  his  cross,  and  first  at  his 
sepulchre. 

I  have  seen  the  women  of  Italy  carrying  the 
Jiod,  and  worse,  I  have  seen  the  women  of  Egypt 
and  of  Asia  treated  like  beasts — no  girls  in  the 
schools,  no  women  in  the  mosques,  as  if  they  were 
not  fit  to  be  educated  nor  fit  to  worship  God. 

But  the  Old  Testament  religion  honored  the  women. 
Sarah  is  on  the  list  of  Old  Testament  worthies,  as 
a  splendid  example  of  faith;  and  Deborah  was  a 
prophetess  and  a  leader  of  the  people;  and  Miriam 
was  a  sweet  singer  of  triumphal  psalms;  and  Han- 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  135 

nah  was  an  honored  mother,  bringing  her  chil- 
dren to  God;  and  Butli  was  an  elegant  instance  of 
devotion;  and  Esther  was  the  beautiful,  queenly 
petitioner,  that  saved  her  people  by  her  patriotic 
prayers;  and  Jael  was  a  heroine  for  Israel;  and 
Rahdb  staked  her  all  for  their  salvation.  And  in 
striking  contrast  with  all  these,  there  was  one  such 
woman  as  Jezebel. 

And  then,  at  Christ's  coming,  there  was  that 
good  old  Anna,  the  prophetess,  who  could  always 
be  seen  in  all  weathers  at  church,  all  Sabbath  time 
at  public  worship,  and  also  through  the  week. 
And  there  was  JEUzaheth,  who  walked  with  her 
husband,  Zacharias,  in  all  the  commandments  and 
ordinances  of  the  Lord,  blameless.  Who,  then, 
can  wonder  at  such  a  record  as  this  of  our  text — 
"Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister'' 

That  wonderful  mission  of  the  Marys  at  the 
resurrection — how  it  rebuked  the  slowness,  and 
apathy,  and  unbelief  of  the  men;  that  assuring 
testimony  that  they  had  seen  the  angels,  and  had 
seen  the  Lord.  And  it  was  not  only  then,  but  often 
since  in  the  Christian  Church,  that  it  has  been 
written — "They  found  it,  even  as  the  women  had 
said ! " 

The  men  can  not  always  sympathize  with  wom- 
an's Christian  work.  They  count  it  a  weak  enthusi- 
asm, just  as  the  apostles  even  counted  the  women's 
testimony  from  the  sepulchre  as  idle  tales  and  be- 
lieved them  not.  The  shepherds,  next  to  the  an- 
gels, were  the  first  publishers  of  the  advent.  But 
the  tvomen,  early  in  the  morning,  were  the  first 


136  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

publishers  of  the  resurrection  and  of  our  Christi- 
anity, as  it  is  founded  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 
What  the  apostles  were  commissioned  to  bear  wit- 
ness of,  they  received  first  from  the  women.  And 
but  for  those  rousing,  burning  words  of  the  Marys, 
those  ministers  of  Christ  might  have  sat  still  in 
their  discouragement  and  disbelief  What  wonder 
that  he  showed  himself  first  to  Mary  Magdalene ! 

Who  does  not  see  that  woman  has  a  heart  for 
Christian  work,  an  ardor  and  alacrity  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Christ  which  reveals  a  special  affinity  and 
makes  us  wonder  no  more  at  such  a  narrative. 
How  we  find  them  everywhere,  whatever  their 
household  cares — patient,  sympathizing,  laborious, 
self-sacrificing — waiting  upon  the  destitute,  search- 
ing out  the  lost,  pushing  forward  the  great  schemes 
of  beneficence !  How  we  find  them  rebuking  the 
excuses  of  the  men  who  plead  their  farms  and  mer- 
chandises! And  while  the  3IartJias  might  plead 
their  housekeeping  cares  as  well,  how  we  see  them 
early  in  the  day  disposing  of  these,  and  hurrying 
to  the  work  of  the  Master!  "Now  Jesus  loved 
Martha^  and  her  sister  T' 

A  woman,  without  work  for  Christ,  is,  therefore, 
without  her  proper  occupation.  A  woman  work- 
ing for  Christ,  and  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  is  the 
true  ideal  of  womanhood.  That  apostolic  woman, 
Dorcas^  honored  Joppa  by  her  good  works,  as  much 
as  Peter  honored  it  by  his  house-top  prayers.  What 
a  record  of  her,  that  "she  was  full  of  good  works, 
and  alms-deeds  that  she  did! "  And  when  she  died, 
there  was  a  lamentation  in  the  city,  and  the  church 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  137 

sent  for  an  apostle  to  come  thither  and  help  them 
in  their  distress.  And  that  upper  chamber,  where 
she  was  laid  out  for  the  burial,  was  crowded  with 
the  weeping  widows,  who  "showed  the  coats  and 
garments  which  this  good  Avoman  had  made,  while 
she  was  with  them."  And  no  wonder  that  the 
apostle  thought  such  a  life  too  valuable  to  be  lost, 
and  exerted  his  miraculous  gift  to  raise  her  up 
from  the  dead.  The  Dorcases  are  not  all  dead, 
blessed  be  God! 

And  she  was  a  young  woman,  as  her  other 
name,  ^^ TabitJia,''  imports. 

The  young  women  of  the  church  are  not  all 
given  over  to  gaiety  and  plectsure-seeking^  but  some 
are  eager  to  give  their  youth-time  to  Christ,  and 
to  deeds  of  Christian  beneficence — teaching  in  the 
Sabbath-school,  clothing  the  poor,  and  supplying 
the  destitute,  by  their  angelic  ministries. 

This  is  woman's  mission — everywhere  and  al- 
ways. These  are  womans  rights  which  belong  to 
her  by  divine  constitution,  and  which  Jesus  will 
vindicate  in  his  church — the  right  of  blessing,  and 
being  blessed.  The  woman  blessed  among  tvomen,  is 
Mary,  the  virgin  mother;  and  the  woman  whose 
praise  is  sung  as  blessed  above  tvomen,  is  Jael,  the 
wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite,  driving  the  nails  through 
the  temples  of  the  foe  of  Israel,  and  piiniing  the 
chieftain  of  the  wicked  to  the  ground. 

And  yet,  I  say,  the  love  of  Jesus  is  consistent 
with  diversities  of  temper,  and  Avith  defects  of 
character. 

"  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 


138  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

and  tlie  God  of  Jacob" — Abraham,  the  faithful 
worker,  Isaac,  the  patient  sufferer,  and  Jacob,  the 
cunning  schemer.  Martha's  complaint  to  Christ 
against  her  sister  was  too  much  in  the  spirit  of 
petulance  and  censoriousness  to  win  his  approba- 
tion; and  it  conveyed,  also,  an  ungracious  insinu- 
ation against  his  own  love  for  herself — "  Dost  thou 
not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone  ?  " 

It  is  hard,  indeed,  to  do  laborious  service,  and 
see  others  idle  or  only  occasionally  at  work.  We 
find  it  hard  to  have  the  church  enterprises  rolled 
upon  us  alone,  as  if  the  more  we  do  the  more  we 
ought  to  do.  And  some  would  seem  to  have  some 
right  to  be  impatient  and  fretful  at  the  sluggish- 
ness and  inefficiency  of  so  many.  But  if  we  wait 
for  all  to  be  with  us  at  service,  we  may  wait  for- 
ever and  do  nothing,  because  others  will  not  do 
their  part.  But  these  are  our  infirmities,  to  relax 
our  service  because  others  are  inactive,  or  to  do 
our  work  under  a  protest  against  the  do-nothing 
class  in  the  church. 

But  Jesus  loved  Martha^  even  though,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  complaining,  she  cast  a  reproach  upon  her 
sister  and  upon  himself  What  should  any  of  us 
do,  if  Jesus  could  not  love  us,  notwithstanding  our 
defects  and  our  unpleasant  peculiarities?  He  loves 
us  enough  to  administer  his  loving  reproofs  and 
corrections. 

And  yet^  further.  This  love  of  Jesus  is  so  per- 
sonal, as  to  be  fitly  pleaded  in  distress. 

The  fact  of  Jesus'  love  is  something  so  moment- 
ous and  so  precious,  as  to  stand  a  man  in  stead, 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  130 

when  trouble  comes.  Be  it  loss  of  friends  or  loss 
of  property  or  loss  of  health — whatever  the  sorrow, 
this  love  can  be  reHed  on,  and  mentioned,  and 
made  the  basis  of  request  for  his  presence  and 
succor  in  the  adversity. 

How  natural  for  these  sisters  to  send  word  to 
Jesus,  from  the  sick  bed  of  Lazarus — "  Lord  behold 
he  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick.''  AVe  know  not  what 
proof  this  suffering  brother  had  ever  given  of  his 
love  to  Christ.  But  this  is  not  mentioned.  It  is 
not  said.  Behold  he  who  loves  thee  is  sick.  No ! 
That  would  not  be  the  proper  plea.  The  Scrip- 
ture nowhere  so  presents  it. 

There  is  so  much  defect  in  our  love  to  Christ. 
and  it  is  so  fickle  and  feeble  in  its  best  condition 
that  it  will  not  bear  to  be  named  as  the  ground  of 
petition,  even  for  a  visit  from  Christ.  No.  It  was 
the  boasting  Peter  who  said,  "Though  all  men 
should  forsake  thee,  yet  will  not  I — though  all 
should  be  offended,  yet  will  not  I."  But  John, 
the  beloved  disciple,  boasted  Jesus'  love  to  him, 
and  not  his  love  to  Jesus — and  he  gloried  in  the 
name  of  "  that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved.'' 

And  now  can  we  so  appreciate  this  love  of  Christ 
as  to  feel  its  availability  in  our  distress?  Can  we 
so  substantiate  it,  as  we  do  our  human,  earthly 
loves,  in  all  their  personality?  Can  we  gather  up 
for  ourselves  or  for  one  another  the  proofs  of  Jesus' 
love  to  ourselves,  so  as  to  mention  in  his  ear  the 
simple  fact,  as  a  plea  for  his  presence  and  assist- 
ance? Do  we  inquire  for  the  daily  proofs  of  his 
favor,  so  as  to  comfort  ourselves  Avitii  tliis  endear- 


140  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

ing  relation,  and  make  it  our  recourse  in  time  of 
trouble?  Can  we  enter  at  all  into  the  triumphant 
language  of  the  apostle — "Who  shall  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  Christ" — from  the  personal  love 
which,  lie  bears  to  us?  No  power  in  all  the  uni- 
verse can  do  it,  for  Us  preciousness  is  above  all 
price. 

And  yet,  observe,  this  love  of  Jesus  finds  respon- 
sive love  in  those  ivlio  are  its  objects. 

Though  Mary  is  one  day  sitting  at  his  feet, 
seemingly  inactive  and  inattentive  to  Martha's 
call,  or  to  the  table  service,  yet  her  record  is 
beautiful,  and  her  loving  acts  are  referred  to  here 
'n  connection  with  Jesus'  acts  of  love — "It  was  that 
Mary  who  anointed  the  Lord  with  ointment,  and 
wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair,  whose  brother  Laz- 
arus was  sick."  That  act  of  rare  devotion  is  ren- 
dered now,  as  a  natural  response  to  that  foregoing 
love  he  had  shown,  when  sorrow  brooded  over  the 
household,  and  when  her  only  brother  was  laid 
low  upon  his  sick  bed,  and  in  the  very  jaws  of 
death.  Lazarus  who  had  been  dead — was  he  not 
noV  sitting  at  the  table  with  them  ? 

That  anointing  cost  her  an  alabaster  box  of 
very  precious  ointment.  It  may  have  wrung  from 
her  heart  a  pang,  at  the  time,  to  break  it  upon  the 
head  of  this  friend.  It  wrung  from  Judas,  with 
his  hypocritical  cant,  a  reflection  upon  the  prodi- 
gality that  would  throw  so  much  money  away 
upon  a  favorite,  when  it  could  have  been  given 
to  the  poor.  But  Judas  hung  himself,  and  Mary 
exalted   her   sex   by  her   humble   sacrifice   before 


PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS.  141 

God.  That  was  her  fond  heart's  offering  —  and 
had  she  not,  ah*eady,  gotten  more  than  she  gave — 
gotten  back  her  dead  brother  from  the  sepulchre  ? 
And  the  Holy  Ghost  mentions  her  ointment  and 
tears  in  this  connection  of  Jesus'  resurrection  work, 
as  if  it  were  only  the  responsive  love  that  ruled  in 
these  kindred  hearts. 

How  many  in  the  church  are  only  hoping^  upon 
the  whole,  to  be  saved;  only  enrolled  in  the  mem- 
bership, without  ever  having  waked  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  Jesus'  personal  love ;  without  ever 
having  felt  the  sweet  sense  of  his  personal  favor; 
without  ever  laying  to  heart  the  fact  of  pardoned 
sin;  without  ever  di'eaming  of  any  such  affection 
on  his  part  as  a  mother's  love,  or  a  brother's ;  with- 
out ever  trying  to  grasp  the  fact  that  he  loves 
them  by  name — "Martha,  Mary,  Lazarus" —  each 
and  all !  And  it  is  just  the  lack  of  this  apprehen- 
sion of  a  great  Gospel  fact  which  cuts  the  nerves 
of  indi\^dual  exertion  in  the  church,  which  brings 
so  few  Marthas  to  set  Christ's  table  in  the  house, 
and  so  few  Marys  to  break  their  costly  perfume 
boxes  upon  Jesus'  head. 

And  they  who  love  Christ,  and  show  the  proofs 
of  it  in  their  living,  are  also  proving  to  the  world 
that  Christ  loves  them.  These  are  our  only  tangi- 
ble proofs.  It  was  the  service  done  to  Christ  in 
that  household  at  Bethany,  which  made  every  one 
who  knew  them  aware  of  Christ's  love  to  them. 
And  so  we  know  his  love  to  iMary,  by  Mary's  oint- 
ment poured  upon  his  head ;  and  his  love  to  ]\Iar- 
tha,  by  IMartha's  generous  spreading  of  his  table; 


142  PERSONAL    LOVE    OF    JESUS. 

and  when  all  say  that  he  loved  Lazanis,  we  know 
that  Lazarus  must  have  done  such  loving  acts  as 
made  him  known  at  Bethany,  as  Jesus'  friend — 
such  acts  as  were  the  response  and  reflection  of 
Jesus'  love.  This  love  of  Jesus  makes  sunshine  in 
the  house  that  death  itself  can  not  long  darken, 
and  that  no  power  in  the  universe  can  destro}^ 

But  you  doubt  about  the  evidences  of  Christ's 
love  to  you.     Come  down  to  the  child's  simplicity. 

"Jesus  loves  me,  this  I  know, 
For  the  Bible  tells  me  so." 

And  if  this  is  found  in  the  Bible,  why  not  gather 
up  the  documentary  proofs — the  title-deeds,  and 
covenants,  and  bonds,  that  are  written,  signed  and 
sealed  here.  And  if  it  is  true  of  you,  then  it  is  the 
most  precious,  most  important  fact  in  your  exist- 
ence. Then  lay  the  fact  to  heart.  Then  live  as 
one  belove'd  of  Jesus.  Then  send  for  him  in  trouble, 
tell  him  your  wants,  your  complaints;  tell  him  all 
the  case,  as  friend  with  friend.  And  only  remem- 
ber that  his  love  is  roycd.  He  loves  to  be  laid  un- 
der obligations.  He  loves  to  be  relied  on,  pleaded 
with,  confided  in.  Let  his  love  be  no  more  a  mere 
doctrine,  but  a  living  reality. 


IX. 


THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST    AND 
SOUGHT    BY    HIM. 

"And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  This  day  is  salvation  conic  to 
this  house,  forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham.  For  the 
Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." — 
LuKK  xix.  9-10. 

The  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  to  men  is  full  of 
kindest  advances  for  our  salvation.  If  any  aro 
urged  to  seek  him,  it  is  chielly  with  this  encour- 
agement— that  he  is  seeking  them,  and  has  come 
for  this  purpose  to  seek  and  to  save  tliem  that  are 
lost.  Before  they  can  give  a  thought  to  the  mat- 
ter, he  has  already  groaned  inider  the  cin*se  of 
their  sins,  and  has  even  died  for  them  on  the 
cross.  This  foregoing  love  is  a  grand,  attractive 
fact  that  qualifies  all  our  understandings  of  the 
Gospel. 

So  many,  like  the  man  of  the  one  talent,  are 
looking  upon  the  terms  of  salvation  as  hard,  im- 
possible— regarding  God  as  an  austere  man,  and, 
out  of  their  own  narrowness  of  feeling,  are  attrib- 
uting a  greater  narrowness  to  him.  And  they 
have  no  room  for  confidence  even  in  his  dying 
love !  They  forget  that,  when  this  planet  of  oms 
had  broken  away  from  the  harmonious  system  of 


144         THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

worlds,  there  was  no  method  for  its  recovery  but 
that  the  grand  laws  of  attraction  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  it.  Its  own  gravitation  would  carry  it 
doiun,  DOWN  to  the  deepest  depths  of  ruin.  The  very 
velocity  with  which  it  tore  away  would  plunge  it 
into  remediless  destruction. 

And  now,  therefore,  the  law  is,  that  no  man  can 
come  back  to  God,  except  by  the  Father's  drawings 
— that  Christ,  as  he  is  lifted  up,  shall  draw  all  men 
unto  him.  Hence,  this  is  now  the  attractive  sys- 
tem of  providence  and  grace.  The  message  is  now 
the  sweet,  alluring  offer  of  the  Gospel — nay,  more 
than  an  offer — the  proclamation  of  peace,  which 
only  insists  on  acceptance.  And  the  daily  deal- 
ing is  now  the  hand  of  kind  constraint  which 
works  with  every  man  in  all  his  life. 

Inere  is  not  a  man  of  you  but  has  been  thus 
plainly  dealt  with,  for  his  drawing  to  God.  Some 
of  you  have  been  prospered  in  business,  and  that 
was  a  most  kind  drawing.  Others  have  been  dis- 
appointed and  bafHed — perhaps  utterly  broken  up 
— and  that  was  a  gentle  constraining  towards  a 
better  world. 

How,  then,  are  you  interpreting  your  daily  his- 
tory? How  are  you  understanding  your  gains  and 
losses,  your  successes  and  reverses  in  the  world  ? 

If  such  be  the  explanation  of  your  life's  affairs, 
then  surely  this  matter  of  your  salvation  is,  with 
God  at  least,  an  omnipresent  interest.  But  if  this 
be  his  constant  concern  in  you — nay,  if  this  be 
the  only  accounting  for  your  history  on  earth,  that 
you  have  been  kept  under  treatment  rather  than 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  145 

banished  long  ago  to  despair,  then  you  will  grant 
this  one  point,  that  there  is  every  encouragement 
and  every  inducement  offered  you  to  seek  salvation. 

There  is  a  certain  class  who  see  nothing  but  dif- 
ficulty in  the  way  of  their  being  saved  —  not  in- 
deed as  regards  God,  but  as  regards  themselves. 
They  have  not  the  requisites  in  their  view.  They 
have  a  kind  of  conviction,  but  it  is  not  overpower- 
ing nor  deep.  They  have  a  kind  of  belief  in  this 
Gospel,  but  it  is  not  moving  nor  positive  ;  and 
hence,  they  only  see  a  great  gulf  fixed  between 
themselves  and  heaven.  There  needs  feeling^  and 
they  have  not  the  right;  there  needs  a  present, 
pressing  motive  to  seek  Christ,  and  they  have  not 
the  right;  all  that  they  have  is  hard-heartedness 
and  infinite  distance  from  Christ.  And  if  they  are 
ever  to  be  saved,  they  imagine  it  must  be  by  some 
mysterious,  overpowering  impulse — they  know  not 
how  or  whence.  Others,  they  believe,  have  been 
brought  to  salvation,  not  by  thinMng  on  their  ways 
— applying  themselves  to  the  Gospel  message,  and 
tin-ning  their  feet  to  God's  testimonies — not  in  any 
such  calm,  sober,  rational  manner,  but  by  sudden 
and  strange  workings  in  them,  which  could  neither 
be  explained  nor  resisted. 

But  is  salvation,  then,  all  a  mere  lottery,  a  casu- 
alty or  fatality?  Can  so  momentous  an  interest 
have  been  left  to  the  mere  chances  of  such  a  blind 
occurrence  ?  Has  God  proposed  to  men  this  great 
redemption,  and  yet  not  brought  it  at  all  within 
their  reach  ? 

The  question  is  here  solved  by  a  case  in  hand ! 
10 


146  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

How  Christ  meets  men  in  his  mission  of  grace — 
how  the  acquaintance  is  made  between  a  sinner 
and  the  Saviour,  and  how  wonderfully  this  salva- 
tion comes  home  to  every  man,  anticipating  his  first 
inquiry,  suiting  every  necessity,  overcoming  every 
difficulty,  so  as  to  be  the  most  immediately  access- 
ible and  available  to  any  seeking  soul — all  this  is 
illustrated  by  a  living  instance  in  this  history. 

It  was  in  the  last  week  of  our  Lord's  career  on 
earth,  and  on  his  last  journey  to  Jerusalem.  Jer- 
icho, the  city  of  palm-trees  and  of  stirring  busi- 
ness, was  specially  astir  that  day,  because  of  this 
unusual  procession  that  passed  through  the  streets. 
Among  them  the  citizens  could  distinguish  a  poor 
blind  beggar,  whose  eyesight  had  just  been  given 
him  by  the  divine  wonder-worker  there;  and  that 
Bartimeus,  glad  and  grateful,  was  shouting  after 
Jesus,  and  others  were  gathering  to  the  throng. 

Business  had  its  claims  there  as  it  has  here. 
But  there  was  a  chief  merchant  of  Jericho  whom 
no  claims  of  worldly  business  could  keep  back  that 
day  from  following  after  this  Son  of  God.  He  was 
a  custom-house  officer,  but  what  of  that?  He  was 
even  a  chief  among  these  odious  publicans,  and  he 
was  rich — likely  enough  had  gotten  rich  by  his  ex- 
tortions as  a  tax-gatherer.  But  all  that  shall  not 
hinder  him  now  from  seeking  Jesus.  The  result 
will  show  that  this  merchant  was  no  loser  by  quit- 
ting the  custom-house  that  day,  and  letting  go  all 
his  questions  of  tariffs  and  taxes  and  trade,  his 
invoices  and  receipts  and  commissions,  and  giv- 
ing up  his  time   and   his   bargains  to  look  after 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  147 

that  Jesus,  who  was  so  soon  to  be  welcomed  as 
his  guest  and  Saviour. 

Christ  is  here  an  appHcant  for  the  sinner  s  hospi- 
tahty — asks  for  admittance  to  the  pubHcan's  house. 
He  only  seeks  to  put  himself  under  these  pleasant 
obligations,  just  to  institute  personal  acquaintance, 
just  to  open  a  familiar  intercourse.  He  asks  the 
man  to  entertain  him,  just  that  under  this  invita- 
tion of  himself,  he  may  put  forward  his  own  gra- 
cious invitation  to  his  own  house  on  earth  and  in 
heaven. 

We  call  your  attention,  then,  to  this  statement  of 
Christ's  gracious  mission,  as  avoAvedly  illustrated 
by  the  case  of  Zaccheus.  Here  is  the  business-man 
seeking  Christ,  and  finding  Christ  seeking  him — 
"This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house,  foras- 
much as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham.  For  the  Son 
of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost." 

Observe,  first  of  all,  hoio  madequate  were  this 
mans  views  of  Christ  at  the  outset  of  this  matter. 
Indeed  his  ignorance  was  complete  and  confessed. 
He  sought  to  see  Jesus,  who  he  was.  But  this 
is  the  Gospel  exhortation — "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God."  What  if,  like  some  who  hear  me,  he  had 
waited  until  he  should  have  some  special  discov- 
eries of  Christ,  he  knew  not  whence ;  some  inward 
revelations  of  him  that  should  irresistibly  captivate 
and  constrain,  he  knew  not  how.  It  was  just  be- 
cause he  did  not  know  who  he  was,  that  he  would 
take  some  present  opportunity  of  seeing  him. 

Is  not  this  a  point  from  which  any  man  here 


148  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

could  fairly  start  out  in  the  matter  of  his  salva- 
tion? What  if,  like  this  rich  publican,  he  should 
find  himself  so  speedily  drawn  into  the  very  com- 
pany of  Christ,  and  into  the  mighty  currents  of 
that  whirlpool  of  his  love,  and  Christ  sitting  with 
him,  the  same  day,  at  his  own  table — the  Saviour 
wonderfully  a  guest  in  his  own  house!  Are  you 
to  wait  for  something — ^fbr  any  thing — in  the  way 
of  \4ews  and  discoveries,  which  you  have  not  this 
moment?  Is  there  need  of  any  such  delay?  Is 
there  a  chasm  here  which  needs  first  to  be  filled 
up,  or  bridged  over,  by  some  mighty  movement  of 
God,  before  you  can  take  a  step  in  the  way  of  see- 
ing Jesus  ?  You  may  protest  to  all  our  urgencies 
that  you  have  no  adequate  views  of  Christ  as  yet, 
and  so  you  can  not  start.  We  know  you  have  not. 
But  this  is  the  very  motive  for  your  seeking  him — 
at  least  to  see  who  he  is;  for  your  making  some 
becoming  inquiry  into  his  word  and  work. 

Is  he  the  Creator  of  these  heavens  and  this  earth, 
and  you  know  him  not  ?  Is  it  he  that  has  peopled 
the  upper  worlds  with  angels,  and  this  globe  with 
all  its  inhabitants,  and  you  care  not  to  know  who 
he  is  ?  Has  he  been  so  long  time  with  you  in  his 
church,  in  the  Gospel,  and  yet  you  know  him  not  ? 
Though  you  have  learned  to  lisp  his  name  from  in- 
fancy, are  you  ignorant  of  him  still  ? 

If  there  could  be  one  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trin- 
ity greater  to  us  than  another,  it  is  he !  He  is 
not  only  God,  but  man  also !  He  has  not  only  the 
throne  of  the  universe,  but  the  IMediator's  throne 
of  grace   besides.     He  is  not   only  Jehovah,   but 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    IIIM.  149 

he  is  Judge  also.  And  he  is  not  only  Lord,  but 
Saviour ! 

And  though  you  are  this  moment  blind  to  all 
his  attributes,  and  though  you  have  no  conception 
of  him  that  could  charm  you  at  all;  say  at  least, 
that  you  will,  the  rather,  on  this  very  account, 
seek  a  sight  of  him.  No  inadequate  views  of 
Christ  could  be  a  reason  for  your  delay,  but  all 
the  rather  a  reason  for  your  promptest  action. 
And  it  is  just  because  you  never  yet  rose  to  any 
such  inquiry,  never  yet  took  the  first  earnest  step 
towards  a  discovery  of  him,  and  for  this  object, 
that  you  sit  in  ignorance  and  darkness  still. 

But  observe,  secondly^  lioio  inadequate  were  this 
man's  feelhujs  and  motives  at  the  outset. 

You  wait  for  proper  feelings,  for  some  strange, 
miraculous  movement  in  you,  something  that  shall 
strike  you  down  with  terror,  or  dazzle  you  with 
light;  some  evident  arrest  and  seizure  of  the 
Almighty  hand,  unaccountable  and  unreasonable. 
You  are  sitting  under  all  the  voices  from  Calvary, 
and  all  the  calls  from  heaven  itself,  as  though  noth- 
ing had  come  to  you  as  yet.  When  you  think  of 
your  being  converted,  you  know  not  how  to  com- 
pass it,  nor  how  to  promote  it,  because  you  see  not 
how  you  can  work  these  feelings  in  you,  which 
you  deem  prerequisite;  and  here  you  sit,  like  the 
impotent  man  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  for  years  to- 
gether, as  though  Jesus  had  never  passed  this  way, 
when  he  dwells  here,  and  here  delights  to  cure. 

Whence  has  such  a  prevalent  fallacy  arisen  in 
the  human  mind  ?     What  an  arch  delusion  of  Sa- 


150  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

tan,  to  make  men  believe  that  they  have  yet  to  sit 
waiting  for  the  Christ,  Kke  a  Winded  Jew  who 
waits  for  the  Messiah!  So  in  the  garden  he  con- 
tradicted the  threatening,  and  said,  "  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die."  And  here  under  the  Gospel,  at  the 
gate-way  of  the  new  paradise,  he  countervails  the 
promise,  and  says,  "Ye  shall  not  surely  live!"  He 
tempts  the  atheist  to  say,  "  There  is  no  God  ; "  and 
conscience  whispers,  that  the  very  tongue  that 
utters  it,  is  a  piece  of  mechanism  whose  mute 
but  resistless  testimony  contradicts  the  lie !  So 
he  tempts  you  to  say,  "There  is  no  Saviour;"  and 
these  sanctuaries,  and  Scriptures,  and  sacraments 
utter  the  testimony  of  long  generations  to  rebuke 
the  dreadful  falsehood. 

Could  you  not  at  least  inquire  honestly,  ear- 
nestly, who  he  is  ?  This  man  was  moved,  it 
would  seem  by  the  merest  curiosity.  At  most 
his  mind  was  open  to  conviction.  General  im- 
pressions that  he  had,  or  common  report  that  he 
had  heard,  led  him  to  seek  a  vieio  of  Christ — not 
even  an  infervieio  with  him.  He  had  no  thought 
of  following  him  as  a  disciple.  The  lowest  desire, 
the  very  lowest  point  of  interest,  was  his.  You 
would  have  held  back,  though  it  were  in  the  mat- 
ter of  your  soul's  salvation,  because  these  were  not 
as  yet  the  right  feelings,  nor  the  proper  motives  in 
approaching  Christ. 

But  see  how  a  man  can  set  out  in  this  matter, 
with  all  his  ignorance,  and  get  that  ignorance 
enlightened;  how  he  can  seek  a  sight  of  Christ 
at  least  from  quite  inadequate  motives,  and  with 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIiM.  151 

most  uiiAvortliy  feelings,  and  be  met,  and  more 
than  met,  by  the  Divine  Saviour. 

Must  it  not  needs  be  so?  AVhoever  started  in 
this  matter  with  right  views,  or  out  of  any  right- 
eous affections?  For  then  Christ  liad  ah'eady  been 
found,  and  the  great  work  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
had  been  needless. 

Could  not  any  man  here  start  this  moment  from 
this  low  point  and  find  himself  like  this  chief  pub- 
lican, speedily  in  the  closest  companionship  with 
Christ — his  understanding  enlightened,  his  heart 
opened,  his  house  honored  by  Christ's  presence, 
the  father  of  a  family  welcoming  Christ  to  his 
utmost  hospitality,  and  Christ  pronouncing  the 
blessing  at  his  domestic  board? 

Could  not  these  men  who  have  long  sat  under 
the  Gospel,  move  at  once  in  this  matter,  without 
waiting  for  something — they  know  not  Avhat — and 
find  this  great  business  of  the  soul  done  for  them, 
and  in  them,  to  their  everlasting  salvation?  Could 
not  these  almost  Christians  succeed  as  well  as  this 
publican?  To  say  that  something  is  in  the  w^ay, 
and  to  conceive  that  this  Gospel  message  is  not  to 
you  as  you  are,  but  only  to  you  as  you  ought  to 
be,  is  to  nullify  this  grace,  and  to  make  a  fatal  mis- 
take. It  had  as  well  be  any  other  falsity.  You 
had  as  well  be  counting  the  Scriptures  untrue,  or 
be  dreaming  that  there  is  no  eternity,  no  judgment, 
no  Jesus  Christ,  no  heaven  nor  hell.  "Then  shall 
ye  know,  if  ye  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord." 

But  observe,  thirdly,  how  sudden  tvas  the  change 
in  this  man. 


152  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

How  long  did  it  take  him  to  be  a  Cliristian  that 
day;  or  the  jailor  at  the  prison  door  in  the  night; 
or  the  Samaritan  woman  at  noon  at  the  well;  or 
Lydia,  at  the  river-side  at  evening,  in  the  place  of 
prayer?  From  being  a  mere  spectator,  gazing  at 
this  wondrous  personage  as  he  passed  by,  he  came 
to  be  an  acquaintance,  a  fi'iend,  a  follower.  The 
same  day  of  his  utter  ignorance  and  distance,  he 
found  himself  entertaining  Christ  as  a  guest,  under 
his  own  roof,  and  having  him  sit  at  his  own  table, 
and  cheerfully  acknowledging  his  claims — and  his 
heart  already  moved  to  new  purposes  of  living, 
and  new  ideas  of  integrity  and  duty. 

He  was  rich  before  in  this  world's  goods.  But 
now  he  had  suddenly  another  kind  of  riches,  which 
made  the  fine  gold  dim  in  itself,  yet  in  regard  to 
its  use  and  in  the  light  of  Christ's  love,  gave  it  a 
new  lustre  as  to  be  employed  in  his  service ;  made 
him  talk  of  gi^^ng  half  his  hoarded  goods  to  the 
poor;  made  him  at  once  profess  Christ  as  King  no 
less  than  Prophet  and  Priest  to  him.  And  all  this 
great,  radical,  practical  change  in  a  day — in  an 
hour. 

He  Avas  a  man  in  high  station  before.  He  held 
a  post  of  monetary  trust  and  was  chief  in  the  of- 
fice, yet  his  was  a  most  thorough  conversion.  He 
arose  now  to  newness  of  life.  You  can  see  that 
the  whole  cast  of  the  man  was  altered.  And  this 
important  business-man  renounced  the  world's  idol- 
atries and  the  publican's  extortions,  and  launched 
out  upon  a  new  career — a  career  of  usefulness,  of 
liberality,  and  of  Christian  discipleship. 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  153 

But  you  know  not  what  mighty  convulsion  can 
ever  work  such  an  important  change  in  yourself. 
You  can  not  conceive  how  it  could  ever  be  reached. 
You  imagine  yourself  somehow  excluded  from  this 
gi*ace  at  present,  or  that  it  belongs  to  some  other 
and  privileged  class.  But  Zaccheus,  though  a  de- 
spised publican,  and  probably  enough  a  Roman  op- 
pressor, was  now,  in  Christ's  view,  a  son  of  Abra- 
ham, and  an  Israelite  indeed.  You  think  of  your 
salvation,  either  as  a  kind  of  miracle  that  must  be 
like  that  of  the  quaking  earth  and  rending  rocks 
at  the  crucifixion,  for  which,  therefore,  you  have 
only  to  luait;  or  you  look  upon  it  as  a  most  for- 
midable, discouraging  work  of  your  OAvn,  which 
you  have  not  the  heart  to  undertake.  You  can 
not  think  of  it,  except  as  the  most  far-off  and  in- 
accessible result.  All  this  mistake  about  the  work 
of  seeking  Christ  arises  from  a  misconception  of 
Christ's  work  in  seeking  men. 

We  say  then,  first  of  all,  that  his  redeeming 
work  for  sinners  is  already  complete. 

It  is  not  as  though  he  had  yet  another  death  to 
die  for  which  you  must  tany,  nor  as  though  the 
benefits  of  his  death  were,  as  yet,  inaccessible  to 
you,  because  of  something  which  he  has  left  un- 
done. The  redemption  is  wrought  out.  And  what 
is  the  Gospel  message,  but  the  tidings  of  this  ? 

And  yet  it  is  to  you,  as  though  no  news  had 
come;  or  as  though  it  were  nugatory  because  of 
something  lacking  to  make  it  good  and  available 
to  men.  Hence  you  are  laboring,  without  rope  or 
bucket,  to  di'aw  water  from  this  deep  well,  when 


154  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

Christ  is  pressing  the  cup  of  water  to  your  very 
lips.  You  do  not  consider  what  has  been  ah-eady 
and  actually  achieved  for  your  salvation,  nor  how 
complete  an  atonement  has  been  made,  nor  how 
perfect  a  provision  altogether  has  been  furnished. 
You  do  not  reflect  on  the  glorious  perfection  of 
him  who  has  undertaken  this.  You  do  not  see 
the  explicitness  of  the  offer  as  it  is  recorded  here 
by  the  Spirit.  When  you  are  urged  to  seek  Christ, 
you  do  not  think  of  it  as  an  encouraging  summons 
to  accept  salvation,  but  as  a  severe  and  cold  com- 
mand to  do  an  impossible  work;  and  for  this  very 
mistake  of  supposing  a  bridgeless  gulf  between 
you  and  this  grace,  you  sit  still,  you  dismiss  the 
matter  as  impracticable  for  you;  or,  at  least,  as 
out  of  the  question  noio!  And  all  the  good  neivs 
that  ought  to  have  charmed  your  heart  to  hear 
falls  dead  upon  you,  as  though  it  were  a  pro- 
posal to  buy  heaven  for  a  million  pounds,  when 
you  have  not  a  farthing  to  give,  nor  any  possible 
resources. 

You  can  never  go  forward  in  this  matter  with- 
out starting  out;  you  can  never  get  light  nor  peace 
in  Christ,  except  in  the  way  of  Christian  duty. 
His  cures  come  to  you  in  the  shape  of  commands: 
"Rise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk:"  "Stretch  forth 
thine  hand."  So  he  said  to  the  lepers,  "Go  show 
yourselves  to  the  priests  and  offer  the  gift  which 
Moses  commanded."  He  bade  them  to  go  forward, 
just  as  though  they  were  already  healed — "and  as 
they  went,  they  were  healed." 

But  in  your  neglect  to  seek  Christ,  there  is  also, 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  155 

Rccondhj,  an  utter  misconception  of  Christ's  pecu- 
liar work  in  seeldng  sinners  ! 

The  text  dechires  this  to  be  his  very  object  in  all 
his  mission  of  grace  to  our  earth,  to  seek  and  to 
save  the  lost.  If  so,  it  is  the  single  explanation  of 
all  these  Gospel  messages  to  you,  of  all  these  means 
of  grace,  of  all  the  truth  delivered,  of  all  the  provi- 
dences dealt  out  to  you.  If  so,  it  is  true — aston- 
ishingly, touchingly  true — that  Christ  has  long 
been  out  seeking  you^  using  constraints  to  draw 
you,  variously  working  to  lead  you;  and  there  is 
not  a  single  item  in  all  the  vast  array  of  his  dis- 
pensations towards  you,  but  is  so  to  be  understood. 
This  would  seem  our  only  accounting  for  your 
respite  upon  earth,  for  your  prolonged  lives  and 
opportunities. 

Are  you,  then,  idly  waiting  for  something  more? 
For  WHAT?  For  Christ  to  move?  He  1ms  moved 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  for  this;  he  has  moved 
with  groans  and  blood  up  the  crucifixion  hill  for 
this ;  he  has  moved  in  all  the  checkered  traces  of 
your  history,  just  for  this !  You  can  not  say  but 
you  have  manifold  drawings,  and  have  resisted 
them  all;  you  can  not  say,  but  again,  this  holy 
hour,  Christ  brings  you  here  in  his  providence,  and 
accosts  you  with  his  word  of  grace,  for  this.  And 
what  wait  you  for?  Does  not  all  this  bring  the 
matter  home  to  you?  Have  you  the  warrant  for 
any  delay?  When  there  is  all  urgency  from  the 
hand  that  would  save  you,  are  you  sitting,  wait- 
ing for  the  heavens  to  open,  and  the  Saviour  to  die 
again  ?     If  any  amount  of  completion   could  put 


156         THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING   CHRIST 

Christ's  work  Avithin  your  reach,  for  its  immediate 
avail,  it  could  not  be  more  complete  than  it  is 
now.  And  if  any  Avinning,  inviting  aspect  of  the 
matter  could  encourage  you  to  move  at  once,  and 
take  action  upon  it,  is  it  not  enough  that  he  came 
in  all  this  wondrous  mission  of  grace,  for  this  ex- 
press object,  to  seek  out  and  to  save  the  lost  ?  Is 
it  no  encouragement  to  a  lost  child  to  seek  his 
father,  if  he  can  know  that  his  father  is  actu- 
ally seeking  him  ?  Did  not  the  prodigal's  doubt- 
ing, shivering  heart  leap  with  a  bursting  emotion 
when,  in  the  far  distance,  he  caught  the  first 
glimpse  of  his  injured  but  loving  parent,  running 
to  embrace  him?  Or  where  there  has  been  rup- 
ture, is  it  no  incentive  to  seek  reconciliation,  that 
already  you  are  sought,  for  this  very  purpose ;  and 
that  already  the  offended  party  is  proclaimed  as 
reconciled  ? 

Then  why  not  move  at  once  'in  this  matter,  at 
least  to  see  Jesus,  who  he  is.  What  if  you  should 
find  him  actually  inquiring  for  you,  and  what  if 
the  first  salutation  is  his  voice,  calling  you  as  if 
by  name,  and  welcoming  you  to  all  he  has  to  give  ? 
Tell  us  what  this  publican,  more  curious  than  right- 
eous at  first,  saw  or  heard  now,  that  brought  him 
so  into  close  connection  with  Christ  ?  What  was 
it  but  that  he  heard  Christ  call,  heard  Christ  call- 
ing him — calling  him  by  name,  so  that  he  could 
not  mistake  its  reference  to  himself;  calling  him 
to  come  down  and  entertain  him,  at  his  house  ? 

And  such  a  call,  only  a  thousand  times  repeated, 
you  have  had  from  your  first  moment  of  discretion. 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  157 

What  more  can  you  ever  have  ?  You  wait  for  some 
louder  call?  Is  it  to  be  in  the  thunder,  or  earth- 
quake, or  death  itself,  or  the  last  trumpet's  sound  ? 
Have  you  not  heard  him  say,  "  Come  unto  me  and 
I  will  give  you  rest:" — ^^  Come !  FoUoio  me!'' — • 
"Give  me  thy  heart:" — "Come,  for  all  things  are 
now  ready : " — "  Open  unto  me,  and  I  will  come  into 
you  and  sup  with  you,  and  you  with  me"?  Is 
there  any  thing  to  be  waited  for  ?  Should  you  not 
now,  at  once,  admit  Christ  and  entertain  him,  and 
rejoice  in  him  ? 

But  that  this  is  so,  will  appear  also,  thirdly,  from 
the  very  terms  in  which  the  call  of  Christ  is  made 
to  you.  Because  it  is  addressed  to  all,  to  every  one^ 
to  luhosoever  will;  it  is  addi'essed  to  yourself,  this 
moment,  as  truly  and  as  much  as  to  any  other 
creature  under  heaven;  as  personally  as  if  you 
were  called  by  name.  And  what  is  it,  but  come  I 
It  is  a  free,  unconditioned  invitation  to  all  the  ben- 
efits. It  is  not  pay  and  come,  or  promise  and  come, 
or  perform  good  works  and  come,  or  make  new 
hearts  and  come,  but  come  first  of  all,  now  and  at 
once,  without  any  delay.  Come  sinners — needy, 
helpless,  lost — come!  Come  as  you  are  and  be 
saved ! 

This  is  Christ's  work — to  save  sinners.  This 
very  lost  estate  of  yours  has  brought  out  Christ, 
seeking  you,  seeking  sinners  such  as  you,  and  none 
but  such.  He  seeks  the  lost.  It  is  his  glory  and 
delight  to  receive  you — miserable,  sinful,  lost  as 
you  are.  And  if  there  were  the  least  io  pay,  you 
could  not  pay  it.     If  there  were  the  least  to  do 


158  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

acceptably,  you  could  not  do  it.  If  there  are  pre- 
requisites and  conditions  of  good  feeling  or  good 
works,  this  utterly  vitiates  the  matter  for  sinners, 
and  makes  it  all  an  idle  offer  to  you. 

But  what  do  we  hear  in  the  Gospel.  It  is  "come 
to  the  waters."  Whatever  is  here  flows  as  freely 
and  as  fully  as  the  fountain  streams,  running  over 
and  gushing  up  from  their  deep  eternal  bed.  You 
mistake  tlie  Gospel  provision  by  supposing  that 
instead  of  furnishing  "all  things  that  pertain  to 
life  and  godliness,"  it  requires  the  first  holy  acts 
to  be  of  yourselves.  He  gives  holy  desire ;  he 
gives  Christian  faith  ;  he  gives  true  repentance  ; 
he  gives  whatever  is  needful.  He  treats  you  as 
lost.  And  you  must  come  as  you  are,  to  get 
whatever  you  require,  from  first  to  last.  No  mat- 
ter even  what  brings  you  to  Christ ;  no  matter 
about  the  style  of  coming,  so  that  you  come  to 
him  as  the  only  Saviour. 

Look  now  at  the  histoiy  of  this  new-made  ac- 
quaintance that  has  brought  a  man  at  once  to  such 
a  change  of  all  his  relations  and  destinies.  It  is 
given  to  the  life  as  an  avowed  illustration  of  seek- 
ing Christ,  and  of  Christ  seeking  and  saving  the 
lost. 

All  that  need  be  said  in  the  book  of  truth  about 
the  nature  of  his  first  inquiry,  is  this — that  this 
chief  publican,  ignorant  altogether  of  Christ  ex- 
cept from  the  common  fame,  sought  to  see  Jesus, 
who  he  was.  Difiiculties  presented  themselves; 
but  he  had  risen  to  this  simple  resolution  that  he 
would  press  through  the  crowd  and  climb  up,  if 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  159 

need  be,  to  see  him.  He  put  himself  in  the  path 
of  Christ,  of  course,  yet  seeking  only  a  view  of 
him  as  yet,  rather  than  an  interview.  And  he 
found  that  Christ  was  seeking  him,  was  already 
reading  his  secret  feeling,  was  more  than  meeting 
his  first  desire.  He  kncAv  him  at  last  only  by  that 
personal  revelation  of  himself — that  Christ  knew 
him  first — called  him  now  by  name.  All  that  you 
can  say  of  the  man  is,  that  then  and  there,  before 
he  had  uttered  a  word,  he  heard  Christ  calling, 
calling  him  to  come,  and  he  came  down  at  once; 
made  haste  and  came  down. 

Christ  bespoke  his  hospitality  (amazing  conde- 
scension!) asked  to  be  a  guest  at  his  house,  cared 
not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his  family  also,  and 
the  man  received  Christ  joyfully.  No  wonder!  No 
man  of  all  that  crowd  could  sneer  at  this  publi- 
can for  welcoming  Christ.  But  all  wondered  that 
Christ  had  gone  to  be  guest  with  a  man  that  Avas 
a  sinner.  That  publican's  house  was  made  happy 
that  same  hour.  Christ  crossed  that  threshold  and 
said,  "  Peace  be  to  this  house."  That  man's  table 
was  honored  by  Christ's  presence ;  his  lot  was 
enriched  by  Christ's  blessing.  Christ  declared  to 
the  man,  that  that  day  salvation  had  come  to 
his  dwelling.  The  convert  found  his  whole  soul 
warmed  towards  the  Saviour,  and  changed  in  all 
its  relations  and  resolutions.  He  is  ready  to  pro- 
fess Christ;  he  does  it  on  the  spot,  and  under  his 
own  roof  he  repeats  it.  An  altar  to  Christ  is  set 
up  there ;  he  has  new  plans  of  living  and  of  well- 
doing. 


160  THE    MERCHANT    SEEKING    CHRIST 

What  now  shall  be  the  history  of  this  case  ?  He 
did  not  even  knock  to  have  it  opened  to  him,  half 
so  much  as  Christ  was  found  knocking  at  his  door, 
and  he  opened  to  him.  Zaccheus  ran  before  the 
crowd;  but  Christ  had  run  before  Zaccheus.  The 
man  was  called  on  by  the  heavenly  guest  to  enter- 
tain him  at  his  home.  But  oh !  he  found  himself 
the  most  entertained.  He  welcomed  Christ,  but 
he  found  himself  more  welcomed.  The  father  of 
a  household  just  opened  to  the  Saviour,  and  lo! 
the  Saviour  had  come  in  to  him  to  sup  with  him, 
and  he  with  Christ,  and  his  family  were  blessed  by 
such  a  visitant.  Oh,  what  a  day  was  that  to  this 
publican  and  sinner!  Who  had  thought  that  his 
first  starting  out,  in  all  his  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice, and  sin,  that  hour,  would  have  led  to  such 
amazing  and  glorious  results  that  very  day. 

My  hearers,  do  you  tell  me  that  you  wait  for 
something  in  this  matter  of  seeking  Christ?  You 
ought  to  know  the  Gospel  message  and  Christ's 
office-work  well  enough  to  be  pressing  through 
the  crowd,  or  coming  down  from  where  you  are 
posted  along  the  way.  You  ought  to  make  haste 
and  come  down,  and  receive  him  joyfully.  Where 
have  you  climbed  up  now  to  see  him  ?  "  Blessed 
sycamore !  by  which  Zaccheus  climbed  that  day  to 
heaven!"  You  have  the  means  of  grace  at  hand. 
The  Gospel  word  is  nigh  thee.  While  you  pray 
and  complain  that  you  find  no  answers,  the  an- 
swers are  here  already  in  the  Scripture,  fresh  as 
though  they  came  this  moment  from  the  skies. 
You  look  for  a  sign  from  heaven  that  shall  assure 


AND    SOUGHT    BY    HIM.  161 

you,  so  as  to  dispense  with  all  exercise  of  trust. 
You  will  have  sight,  and  not  faith.  You  can  not 
help  knowing  that  Christ  calls  you  now,  before  you 
ever  call  to  him.  You  can  not  help  hearing  him 
speaking  directly  to  yourself  as  if  by  name,  even 
along  the  road-side.  And  if  you  would  respond  to 
him  like  this  chief  merchant  of  Jericho,  and  enter- 
tain this  Sa\dour  in  your  heart  and  at  your  home, 
you  too  would  find  him  abiding  at  your  house  to- 
day with  his  great  salvation. 


X. 

TEARFUL  SOWING  AND   JOYFUL  REAPING. 

"They  that  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy.  He  that  goeth  forth 
and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with 
rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him." — PsALM  cxxvi.  5-6. 

The  Psalmist  celebrates  in  this  beautiful  psalm 
the  return  of  the  church  from  captivity  by  help 
of  her  covenant  God.  How  joyous  was  the  day ! 
How  bright  and  blessed  was  the  deliverance !  It 
was  morning  after  midnight.  It  was  plenty  after 
famine.  It  was  rain  after  drought.  And  from  such 
a  glad  and  happy  experience  he  deduces  a  great 
principle,  applicable  to  all  times  and  to  the  church, 
not  only,  but  to  the  individual  believer.  "They 
that  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy." 

But  this  principle  can  not  be  of  universal  appli- 
cation. It  is  confined  to  the  domain  of  Christian 
effort.  Traced  to  the  natural  law,  we  could  say 
that  they  who  undertake  and  prosecute  enterprises 
with  anxious  earnestness,  such  as  often  expresses 
itself  in  tears,  do  commonly  meet  with  success,  and 
obtain  a  joyous  harvest  of  their  anxious  sowing. 

But  this  is,  by  no  means,  the  universal  experi- 
ence. Every  one  sees  that  many  sow  in  tears 
and  reap  in  tears  also.  See  the  man  of  the  world, 
early  and  late  busy,   carrying  on  the  service  of 


TEARFUL    SOWING,    JOYFUL    REAPING.      163 

mammon  with  sweating  toil  worthy  of  a  better 
cause ;  wearied  in  body  and  mind,  worried  and  ex- 
hausted, sitting  down  at  last  to  disappointment 
and  despair.  Oh !  How  the  masses  who  forget 
God  and  go  in  pursuit  of  worldly  pleasure,  or 
of  mad  ambition,  sow  in  tears  and  reap  in  bitter 
weeping ! 

The  service  of  Satan  and  of  mammon  is  a  hard 
service,  drudging  work  and  poor  wages.  Pity  on 
the  toiling  laborers  who  have  no  rest,  day  nor 
night;  no  release  from  their  bondage  and  no  fruit 
of  their  labor,  but  shame  and  sorrow ;  where  they 
drudge  on,  and  are  only  crushed  and  cursed  for 
their  pains  by  the  hard  master  whom  they  serve. 

There  is  no  service  but  the  service  of  God,  that 
guarantees  a  splendid  success.  Think  of  this,  ye 
who  give  body  and  soul  to  the  cares  of  life  and 
to  its  pleasures,  and  find  your  reward  so  hard  and 
cruel,  with  no  promise  of  relief  forever  and  ever. 
Listen  to  those  cheering  words  of  the  text  and 
inquire  for  this  Master,  who  promises  such  joyous 
and  blessed  returns  in  his  service. 

It  may  be  fairly  said,  that  there  is  no  great 
result  in  life  attained  \\dthout  hard  labor.  Men 
concede  this  every  day  in  their  worldly  business. 
They  are  even  willing  to  sow  in  tears  at  the  pros- 
pect, however  uncertain,  of  reaping,  at  length, 
in  joy.  There  is  ready  sacrifice,  daily  self-denial, 
cheerful  cross -bearing,  patient  bondage,  to  the 
work  of  mammon,  in  the  bare  hope  of  gaining, 
at  length,  an  ample  return. 

And  yet,  how  hard  it  is,  sometimes,  for  such  to 


164  TEARFUL    SOWING 

bear  up  under  the  blasted  prospects  and  baffled  ef- 
forts in  business,  with  no  security  that  it  will  ever 
be  otherwise.  But  here,  in  the  service  of  God, 
the  sower  can  well  afford  the  tears;  he  can  bear 
up  cheerfully  under  the  present  burdens,  knowing 
that  there  shall  surely  come  an  abundant  harvest 
— that  none  of  his  patient,  painstaking  labor  shall 
be  lost,  that  he  shall  yet  go  forth  to  the  reaping, 
however  it  be  long  delayed,  and  that, 

"Though  seed  lie  buried  long  in  dust, 
It  sha'n't  deceive  the  hope. 
The  precious  grain  shall  not  be  lost, 
For  grace  insures  the  crop." 

There  are  divine  maxims  that  the  world  quotes 
for  its  encouragement,  but  they  belong  to  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  that — "The  darkest  hour  is  just  before 
the  day,"  and  that  "man's  extremity  is  God's  op- 
portunity." The  Scripture  has  it,  as  it  was  writ- 
ten in  the  history  of  Abraham.  "In  the  mount 
the  Lord  shall  be  seen."  The  altar  on  which  your 
Isaac  is  to  be  given  up  in  tears  to  God,  is  the  place 
where  you  shall  behold  marvels  of  God's  mercy — 
where  God  shall  graciously  interpose,  and  all  an- 
gels shall  seem  to  be  your  bodyguard,  and  unim- 
agined  ways  of  deliverance  shall  appear  to  turn 
the  weeping  into  joy. 

So  it  is  written,  on  the  basis  of  the  same  divine 
guarantees,  and  as  a  fruit  of  the  same  Christian 
experience :  "  Blessed  is  the  man  wliose  strength  is 
in  thee ;  in  whose  heart  are  the  ways  of  them,  who, 
passing  through  the  valley  of  Baca,  make  it  a 
well."     I  have  seen  stout  men  and  tender  women 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  165 

passing  through  the  valley  of  Baca,  and  the  vale 
of  weeping  becomes  to  them  a  fountain  of  living 
waters,  and  God's  gracious  rains  from  heaven — all 
his  showers  of  blessing — fill  the  pools  which  afflic- 
tion has  scooped  out  in  their  path. 

Let  us  look  now  at  the  text,  as  it  sets  before  us 
the  certain  results  of  Christian  effort — the  sure 
success  of  labor  in  Christ's  service,  however  toil- 
some, and  however  discouraging,  or  disappointing 
it  may  any  time  appear. 

Every  man  is  in  a  sense  a  husbandman,  whether 
he  will  or  not.  He  is  daily  sowing  seed  that  shall 
spring  up  to  some  harvest  of  honor  and  joy,  or  of 
shame  and  sorrow.  But  the  Christian  minister 
and  every  Christian  laborer  is  likened,  in  the 
Scripture,  to  a  sower — who  goes  forth  to  sow, 
whose  business  and  office-work  is  this — to  sow 
seed.  The  illustration  is  full  of  interest.  Let  us 
trace  it  out. 

The  dissemination  of  God's  truth  is  our  great 
business — yours  and  mine,  my  brethren. 

And  this  divine  truth,  when  brought  to  bear 
upon  men,  is  compared,  in  Scripture,  to  a  fire  and 
a  hammer,  that  breaks  the  flinty  rock  in  pieces. 
This  is  its  function — this  is  its  office-work  and  aim 
— to  break  down  the  stoutest  enmity  of  the  heart. 
It  is  also  likened  to  a  sword  that  is  to  be  wielded 
— to  strike  down  the  most  violent  opposer — the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  God,  the  Holy  Ghost 
himself  draws — and  with  which  he  cuts,  even  to 
the  joints  and  marrow  of  the  desperate  foe. 

But  in  the  hand  of  the  Christian  minister,  and 


166  TEARFUL    SOWING 

Christian  member,  this  truth  of  God  is  also  seed. 
And  thus  it  is  called  the  good  seed — the  incorrupti- 
ble seed,  which  liveth  and  abide th  forever.  Other 
seed  may  utterly  rot  in  the  ground,  as  it  fairly 
ought;  and  some  seed  may  germinate  to  corrup- 
tion ;  but  this  seed  never  rots,  and  where  it  springs 
up,  at  length,  it  is  always  to  a  pure  and  joyous 
harvest. 

Mark,  then,  the  divine  encouragement:  "He  that 
goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed, 
shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bring- 
ing his  sheaves  with  him."  The  sole  condition  of 
the  success  is,  that  the  sower  shall  go  forth  to  his 
work,  hearing  the  precious  seed,  and  then,  he  may 
go  forth  even  weeping,  for  the  present  hardship  or 
opposition  or  ill-success,  but  he  shall  doubtless 
come  again  with  rejoicing,  reaping  his  golden 
harvest. 

Look  now  at  this  truth  of  God  as  seed. 

Jesus  spake  a  parable  to  this  effect,  and  said, 
"The  sower  soweth  the  word."  The  seed  is  the 
word  of  God.  You  may  notice  how  these  divine 
truths  are  thrown  out  from  the  pulpit  and  the 
press  and  social  conversation,  as  from  the  sower's 
hand. 

Is  this  to  be  the  end  of  all  this  constant  work 
of  the  preacher,  just  to  pronounce  formal  sermons 
— just  to  work  up  thoughts  into  religious  dis- 
courses, or  to  work  out  the  high  problems  of  di- 
vine revelation,  for  curious  hearers,  and  to  go  on 
to-morrow  as  to-day,  and  next  Sabbath  as  this  Sab- 
bath, looking  for  no  further  results?     Ask:   Is  it 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  167 

the  whole  business  of  the  husbandman  to  turn  his 
mellow  furrow  and  plant  his  field  with  grain — and 
so  go  on,  with  the  same  process,  year  after  year, 
looking  for  no  harvest  ?  Oh  no !  This  might  be, 
if  he  sowed  pebbles.  But  he  has  soAved  seed.  And, 
in  its  very  nature,  it  is  a  germ — having  life — and 
it  is  expected  to  be  started  into  growth  by  all  the 
system  of  influences  into  which  it  is  cast  by  that 
act  of  the  sower  flinging  it  into  the  ground. 

Look  at  these  truths  of  God.  They  are  living 
germs  —  they  are  seed-grain.  They  are  cast  out 
into  the  minds  of  men  in  the  hope  of  genial  influ- 
ences for  expanding  and  maturing  them  to  a  har- 
vest. Oh !  how  one  thought,  flung  into  the  active 
soul,  has  often  germinated  and  expanded  and  come 
up  with  rank  stalk  and  heavy  crop  in  all  the  fu- 
ture life. 

And  that  is  what  we  seek.  And  this  is  what 
God  expressly  promises:  "As  the  rain  cometh 
down  and  the  snow  from  heaven,  and  returneth 
not  thither,  but  watereth  the  earth,  that  it  may 
give  seed  to  the  sower  and  bread  to  the  eater;  so 
shall  my  word  be,  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my 
mouth.  It  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it 
shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please ;  and  it  shall 
prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it,  tliat  instead 
of  the  thorn  may  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  instead 
of  the  brier  the  myrtle-tree,  to  be  to  the  Lord  for 
a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign  which  shall  not  be 
cut  off'."  This  is  the  absolute  guarantee  of  God. 
And  this  is  the  standing  encouragement  in  dis- 
seminating this  good  word  of  God.     So  it  ought 


168  TEARFUL    SOWING 

to  result — so  every  sowing  ought  to  have  its  crop, 
and  will  somehow  and  sometime  have  it,  in  ben- 
efit and  blessing  for  all  eternity. 

But  observe  the  grand  condition  of  this  success 
is,  that  the  seed  sown  shall  be  precious  seed. 

Oh!  how  many  hands  are  busy  sowing  worth- 
less seed,  that  shall  either  not  spring  up  or,  what 
is  worse,  shall  spring  up  to  prolific  harvests  of 
corruption  and  perdition.  How  the  new  labor- 
ers, with  seed  in  hand — bad  seed — enter  the  ser- 
vice of  Satan  every  day!  And  how  hard  it  is  to 
get  men,  in  this  blessed  field  of  the  Master,  men 
who  will  be  earnest  and  faithful  in  scattering  the 
good  seed  of  the  kingdom,  as  they  go  along  in  life 
with  a  view  to  a  harvest  of  souls ! 

But  look  at  this  seed, — how  precious !  You  can 
know  it  only  from  its  fruits.  You  may  take  vari- 
ous seeds  —  some  of  most  poisonous  plants,  and 
some  of  richest  fruits — and  you  may  not  be  able  to 
distinguish  them.  But  drop  them  into  the  ground, 
where  they  shall  be  subjected  to  the  appropriate 
influences  of  soil,  and  you  shall  soon  know  them 
from  the  stalk  and  leaf  even,  but  surely  from  the 
fruit. 

Take  now  one  of  these  divine  truths — the  great 
fact  of  the  Gospel — the  faithful,  credible  saying, 
so  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.  Have  I 
need  to  prove  to  you  how  precious  is  this  seed- 
grain  of  inspired  truth?  Have  you  not  seen  it 
where  it  has  sprung  up  in  a  desolate  field,  where 
the  heart  was  sad  and  the  home  was  cheerless, 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  169 

and  it  has  gladdened  all  around — comforted  the 
sorrowing,  and  raised  the  degraded  and  debased 
— as  when  you  have  sown  some  gorgeous  flower- 
seed  in  your  garden,  and  it  has  bloomed  all  the 
season  through,  to  delight  and  bless  with  its  beauty 
every  beholder  ? 

I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  last  summer,  in  this 
vicinity,  the  evening  primrose.  They  who  had 
the  beauteous  thing  in  bloom,  near  the  door-w^ay 
of  their  dwelling,  gathered  the  whole  company 
of  visitors  around  to  see  it  so  wondrously  open 
its  flowers  at  the  instant  of  the  sunsetting.  We 
stood  and  watched  the  long  yellow  blossoms  that 
had  been  folded  up  closely  through  the  day — and 
strangely  enough,  as  the  sun  went  down,  these 
blossoms  on  every  stem  seemed  instinct  w^ith  life. 
The  folded  leaves  began  to  stir,  and  first  one  and 
then  another  leaf  gently  unfolded,  until,  presently, 
it  flung  open  all  its  beauty  to  the  beholder.  And 
not  one  of  the  blossoms  failed  to  do  the  same, 
until  a  dozen  on  the  same  stalk  stood  forth  in  the 
glory  of  this  twilight  resurrection.  A  precious 
seed,  I  said,  is  that,  and  I  must  have  the  joy  of 
such  a  planting  and  flowering. 

So  I  have  seen  it,  in  a  circle  of  worshippers,  or 
in  the  same  household.  What  precious  seed  has 
the  great  Gospel  truth  of  Jesus'  advent  for  sin- 
ners' salvation  proved  to  be !  What  peace  it  has 
brought  forth  in  the  bosom!  What  solid  prin- 
ciple !  What  noble  practice !  How  it  has  burst 
forth  in  beauty  on  a  whole  circle  of  beholders — 
a  garden  of  delights — like  the  most  rare  and  fra- 


170  TEARFUL    SOWING 

grant  blossoming  of  the  tropics.  How  faith  and 
hope  and  love  and  joy  and  peace  and  long-suffer- 
ing and  gentleness  and  goodness  and  meekness 
and  temperance  and  truth  have  been  gathered  by 
a  whole  household,  in  richest  clusters,  as  the  crop 
from  this  one  seed. 

And  so  there  is  another  precious  seed,  the  truth 
of  a  divine  covenant  with  the  believer  through 
Jesus  Christ  covering  all  providence — controlling 
all  issues  and  events — numbering  the  very  hairs 
of  the  head — providing  for  the  asking  and  the  re- 
ceiving, as  by  a  law  more  fixed  than  that  which 
moves  the  stars  in  their  exactest  courses.  See  how 
this  seed,  sown  in  the  heart,  springs  up  and  yields 
a  fruit  of  happy  thoughts  and  rich  consolations ! 

Then  as  nothing  can  happen  unforeseen  and  un- 
ordered and  unprovided  for  by  my  covenant  God, 
is  it  not  blessed  at  the  worst  ?  Is  it  not  part  of 
my  training  for  heaven,  and  part  of  my  leading 
thither?  And  so,  if  the  event  cross  my  plans,  do 
I  want  any  thing  for  myself  that  my  covenant 
God  does  not  want  me  to  have?  Or  do  I  know 
better  than  he  what  is  best  for  me  ?  Is  it  not  bet- 
ter for  my  own  happiness  and  for  my  eternal  sal- 
vation, that  my  poor,  stumbling  way  be  embar- 
rassed than  his  eternal  course  of  love  ?  Is  it  not 
better  that  my  poor,  blind  will  be  disappointed, 
than  his  loving  and  glorious  counsels?  And  so  let 
the  tribulation  come,  and  it  shall  work  patience, 
and  the  patience  experience,  and  the  experience 
hope. 

And  so,  finally,  the  truth  of  the  resurrection  and 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  171 

etenial  life  is  a  like  precious  seed.  Springing  np 
in  the  dreariest  bosom,  it  sheds  joy  around;  it  is 
fragrant  with  perfume  that  fills  the  air. 

Yesterday,  I  buried  an  aged  widow,  w4io  first 
received  me  into  her  hospitable  home  a  quarter 
century  before,  when  I  went  out  a  lad  to  do  my 
first  sowing  of  the  Gospel  seed.  She  w^as  one  of 
my  earliest  parishioners  in  a  distant  city.  She 
came  to  her  grave  in  a  full  age  as  a  shock  of 
corn  Cometh  in  in  his  season.  It  was  a  seasonable 
death,  calm  and  beautiful,  at  eighty-seven  years 
of  age.  And  her  last  words  were — "  Eternal  life ! 
eternal  life ! " 

That  seed,  planted  in  her  mind — this  truth  of 
the  "life  eternal" — that  single  glorious  truth  let 
fall  in  her  soul — was  vitalized  and  expanded  to  a 
gracious  maturity  and  developed  in  her  all  joy 
and  triumph,  in  her  long  and  happy  life  journey 
and  in  her  victorious  death.  So  you  have  seen  it 
all  through  your  society.  And  to  see  it  spring  up, 
in  even  a  few  instances,  is  an  ample  reward. 

But  the  text  makes  mention  of  the  weeping, 
almost  as  if  it  were  a  condition  of  success. 

There  are  manifold  occasions  for  tears  in  this 
sower's  work.  The  promise  is  spoken  for  encour- 
agement, under  all  possible  disappointments  and 
drawbacks.  As  Jesus  himself  portrayed  the  sow- 
ing in  his  beautiful  parable,  you  remember,  it  was 
only  in  one  condition  out  of  four,  that  the  seed, 
precious  as  it  all  was,  came  to  a  blessed  harvest. 
And  yet  we  might  hope  that  more  than  a  fourth 
of  all  the  seed   sprang   forth  to  p&rfection — that 


172  TEARFUL    SOWING 

most  of  all  the  seed  sown  was  dropped  into  the 
good  ground,  and  only  here  and  there  a  few  scat- 
tering seeds  fell  by  the  wayside  or  npon  the  rock 
or  among  the  thorns.  But  the  manifold  hindrances 
to  the  growth  of  the  word  in  the  heart  and  life 
might  make  an  angel  weep. 

It  is  hard  for  a  minister  to  see  the  loss  of  his 
labor,  in  case  of  the  wayside  hearers.  Hard  to 
see  a  thousand  birds  of  ill-omen,  flocking  round, 
to  pick  up  the  precious  seed  which  has  received 
no  lodgement  on  that  hard  trodden  road.  Hard 
to  see  men,  so  indurated  by  the  rush  and  tramp 
of  business  or  pleasure,  that  you  can't  get  them  so 
much  as  to  think  of  the  soul.  These  great  truths, 
most  solemn  and  momentous,  scarcely  dropped  be- 
fore they  are  gone!  Men  who  come,  and  go  as 
they  came,  from  a  thousand  sermons,  and  no  im- 
pression is  received !  Oh !  it  is  that  which  brings 
the  tears.  And  then  it  is  hard,  where  the  seed  has 
even  sprung  up  and  blossomed,  full  of  promise,  to 
find,  in  a  few  short  months,  how  it  has  revealed 
its  rocky  soil — no  firm  rooting — all  going  to  stalk 
— nothing  but  leaves — the  blossoms  dropping  off 
without  any  fruit — nothing  matured  and  ripened 
to  perfection — withered  away!  And  then,  too,  to 
see  the  growing  of  the  seed  choked  by  thorns — by 
the  cares  of  this  world  and  by  the  deceitfulness  of 
riches  and  by  the  lusts  of  other  things.  So  much 
good  seed  falling  on  rich  soil,  but  overrun  by 
weeds  and  overtopped  by  thistles,  till  it  can  grow 
no  more,  but  is  buried  under  the  rank  mass  of 
worldliness.     Oh!   this  is  matter  for  tears;  these 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  173 

are  sights,  under  our  daily  eye,  to  wring  the  sow- 
er's heart  with  anguish. 

You  do  not  see  the  weeping.  How  the  evil 
tempers  and  evil  example  of  some  in  the  church 
hinder  the  progress  of  young  Christians,  or  hin- 
der others  from  becoming  Christians  at  all !  How 
we  must  weep  over  much  inconsiderate  conduct 
even  in  the  best ;  over  mischievous  principles 
broached  by  good  men,  where  wrong  is  palliated 
by  those  who  are  set  to  be  the  promulgators  and 
defenders  of  the  right,  and  where  all  a  pastor's 
efforts  are  paralyzed  by  men  of  standing  in  the 
church,  who  openly,  in  conduct  or  otherwise,  ad- 
vocate the  wrong  in  daily  practice. 

But  we  are  bidden  to  go  on  sowing,  even  though 
we  weep  as  we  go.  For  first,  the  sowing  is  ours 
and  the  weeping  may  be  ours,  but  not  the  ger- 
minating, nor  the  fruit-bearing  of  what  we  sow. 
"  Paul  planteth,  Apollos  watereth,  but  God  giveth 
the  increase." 

And  this  is  just  what  God  doeth  and  delights  to 
do,  as  if  it  were  by  a  system  of  natural  law.  The 
means  are  ours — the  results  are  his.  And  yet,  he 
will  often  so  bless  the  means  with  the  results,  as 
that  they  shall  seem  to  have  produced  them.  So, 
he  often  honors  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the 
use  of  all  Christian  instrumentalities.  But  he  has 
not  required  of  us  to  make  the  seed  grow,  only  to 
do  the  sowing  faithfully,  and  even  at  self-sacrifice 
and  with  tearful  efforts,  that  shall  evince  the  ear- 
nestness and  the  fidelity.  And  he  will  ensure  the 
gracious  harvest. 


174  TEARFUL    SOWING 

But  we  are  to  consider,  secondly,  that  God  does 
not  bind  himself  to  times  and  seasons  for  this 
harvest. 

It  is  not  in  the  church,  as  it  is  in  nature,  that  we 
can  tell  of  the  harvest-time  from  the  course  of  the 
sun  in  the  sky  or  from  the  season  of  the  year.  He 
reserves  to  himself  the  time  for  the  reaping.  Nay, 
it  is  often  that  one  soweth  and  another  reapeth. 

But  God  will  have  our  patience  tested  and  culti- 
vated here.  And  then  he  will  have  it  so  arranged 
that  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  may  re- 
joice together.  Oh  I  in  the  other  world,  we  shall 
see  the  map  of  human  influences  and  destinies 
spread  out  in  our  individual  cases,  and  it  mil  ap- 
pear whose  sowing  it  was  from  which  the  harvest, 
in  each  case,  was  finally  reaped.  And  many  an 
one  who  had  waited  and  wept  long  time  for  re- 
sults in  his  ministry  will  be  honored,  at  last,  with 
bringing  in  the  sheaves  from  his  own  sowing,  how- 
ever long  ago  past;  and  then,  if  not  before,  that 
eternity  that  shall  disclose  all  actions  and  all  issues 
and  shall  trace  them  to  their  respective  sources 
shall  put  the  honor  upon  those  to  whom  it  is  due. 
And  they  who,  years  ago,  went  forth  somng  and 
toiled  faithfully  in  the  furrow  and  scattering  the 
seed,  but  not  knowing  of  the  ultimate  results,  they 
shall  come  again,  with  rejoicing,  and  shout  the 
harvest-home.  Patience,  Christian  parents,  pray 
and  labor  with  your  wayward  children.  "God 
giveth  the  increase."  This  is  what  he  does^ 
God  giveth  the  increase.  Patience,  Sabbath-school 
teacher,  plant  and  water. 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  175 

And  if  this  be  so,  then  we  remark,  further,  that 
present  success  in  this  work  is  no  criterion  of  fidel- 
ity or  of  God's  favor. 

What  if  a  man  sits  down  in  his  field,  discouraged 
because  he  does  not  see  the  seed  spring  up  at  once. 
Many  will  give  up  the  work,  if  they  have  not  the 
immediate  returns.  But  the  husbandman  waiteth 
for  the  precious  fruit  of  the  earth  and  hath  long 
patience  for  it,  until  he  receive  the  early  and  the 
latter  rain.  God's  times  are  not  ours,  nor  are  his 
ways  ours.  And  can  we  not  afibrd  to  wait  when 
the  promise  is  absolute,  as  in  the  text?  Yea,  the 
farmer  may  sow  the  best  seed  and  may  wait  in 
vain  for  the  crop.  Nature  has  not  supplied  all 
the  conditions  of  fertility  and  production.  And 
hence  he  goes,  mourning  the  barrenness  and  loss. 
But  here,  in  Christ's  service,  no  Christian  labor 
shall  ever  lose  its  reward.  It  is  only  a  question 
of  time.  The  faithful  sower  shall,  doubtless  — 
doubtless  —  come  again  with  rejoicing,  with  his 
arms  and  bosom  full  of  the  sheaves. 

There  is  a  world  beyond;  and  it  is  a  world  of 
wages  and  fruits  and  issues  and  results  and  recom- 
penses. If  the  seed  has  not  yet  sprung  up,  there 
it  is,  in  the  furrow,  we  may  hope.  It  is  sown  in 
the  bosom,  and  it  is  incorruptible  seed.  And  if 
it  be  longer  a-coming,  it  may  be  only  because  it 
was  deeper  planted  or  because  of  the  nature  of  the 
soil.  The  century  plant  blooms  for  those  who  did 
not  plant  the  seed.  Yes !  And  so  there  were  those 
who  planted  that  precious  seed  in  faith,  though 
they  knew  it  should  open  its  gorgeous  flower,  not 


176  TEARFUL    SOWING 

for  their  eyes,  but  for  others — when  their  heads 
were  laid  low  in  the  dust. 

I  met  a  former  parishioner  in  the  crowd  of 
Broadway,  last  week.  It  had  been  nearly  twenty 
years  since  I  had  seen  him.  He  told  me  of  his 
children — one  dead,  another  in  Europe,  another  at 
home.  He  grasped  me  by  the  hand  as  we  parted 
and  he  said:  "Ah,  you  will  be  remembered  by 
your  people  in  Brooklyn,  long  after  your  head  is 
in  the  grave."  Ah!  that  is  wages:  the  like  of 
which  one  may  get  every  year,  more  or  less,  from 
the  old  field,  while  he  gathers  also  from  the  new. 
The  husbandman  hath  long  patience  for  the  pre- 
cious fruit  of  the  earth — long  patience  for  it.  And 
why  not  we  for  this  more  precious  fruit  of  heaven, 
when  we  are  assured  that  it  shall  certainly  come? 

And,  finally,  we  see  it  is  not  the  ministry,  alone, 
but  the  memhersMp,  also,  to  whom  this  sowing 
belongs. 

They  who  have  the  seed  are  to  scatter  it.  There 
is  no  monopoly  of  production.  You  may  all  be 
cultivators  of  this  gracious  crop.  No  matter  what 
discouragement  or  what  delay  or  doubt  or  opposi- 
tion of  men  or  hindrances  of  the  world  or  of  the 
devil — no  matter  though  Satan  plant  tares  over 
night  among  the  wheat,  which  you  have  carefully 
sown  and  watered  with  your  tears.  It  is  God's  to 
give  the  increase,  even  where  Paul  plants  and 
Apollos  waters.  And  therefore,  every  one  who 
can  cast  a  seed  out  into  the  field,  is  invited  to 
this  work.  Here  is  the  call  for  truth,  in  every 
form  of  dissemination,  to  be  written,  spoken,  said, 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  177 

or  sung — at  home  or  by  the  way — to  men  and  to 
children — in  the  church  and  the  Sabbath-school 
and  the  counting-room  —  at  the  table  and  in  the 
social  circle — by  the  formal  teaching  or  the  inci- 
dental remark — by  the  sober  counsel  or  the  tender 
rebuke  or  the  word  of  invitation  or  admonition. 
Speak  !  I  pray  you,  my  brother ;  whatever  of  God's 
truth  you  have  at  hand  that  the  occasion  calls  for 
—  that  you  have  the  opportunity  to  dispense  — 
speak  out !  for  that  truth  has  life  in  it — spirit  and 
life — and  it  can  not  be  utterly  tramped  out  of  the 
bosom.  The  fowl  of  the  air  may  pick  it  up  from 
the  way-side,  but  may  drop  it  elsewhere — may 
even  drop  it  into  a  fresh  furrow.  And  it  will 
grow,  ages  after  it  has  passed  from  your  hand. 
Just  as  the  seed  deposited  in  the  mummy's  coffin 
is  found,  after  long  ages,  yet  instinct  with  life  and 
incorruptible. 

Oh!  ye  who  are  out  in  the  field  of  life  daily, 
amidst  the  open  furrows,  where  some  sowing  is 
all  the  while  going  on,  and  you  are  busily  sowing 
some  seed,  whether  you  know  it  or  not,  whether 
you  will  it  or  not,  sow  this  good  seed  of  the  king- 
dom, I  beseech  you,  wherever  you  can.  Employ 
your  talents  for  Christ.  Use  your  opportunities 
for  Christ.  Undertake  work  for  Christ.  It  is  no 
time  for  shrinking  and  shirking  the  work  of  the 
Master.  Have  you  not  served  Satan  faithfully  and 
the  world  and  self;  and  will  you  beg  ofi*  from  toil 
and  denial  in  Christ's  service  ?  Only  think  of  the 
sheaves  which  you  may  bring  home,  at  the  great 
harvesting  of  the  world!     Even  though  you  are 


178  TEARFUL    SOWING 

obscure  and  without  influential  position  in  society, 
remember,  God  asks  for  the  sowing  and  he  will 
give  the  increase,  whether  it  be  your  sowing  or 
Paul's  or  Gabriel's  or  a  child's  or  an  idiot's. 

**I  say  to  thee,  do  thou  repeat 
To  the  first  man  thou  mayst  meet, 
In  lane,  highway  or  open  street. 
That  he  and  we  and  all  men  move 
Under  a  canopy  of  love. 
As  broad  as  the  blue  sky  above." 

And  then  let  no  one  say  that  this  is  work  which 
is  too  hard. 

"A  grain  of  com  an  infant's  hand 
May  plant  upon  an  inch  of  land, 
Whence  twenty  stalks  may  spring  and  yield 
Enough  to  stock  a  little  field. 
The  harvest  of  that  field  might  then 
Be  multiplied  to  ten  times  ten, 
Which  sown,  thrice  more,  would  famish  bread 
Wherewith  an  army  might  be  fed." 

And  herein  is  the  strong  attraction  of  this  blessed 
work.  Who  can  trace  out  its  interminable  issues  ? 
Who  can  tell  the  history  of  one  of  these  seeds !  It 
is  the  infinite  development  that  gives  it  a  charm. 
It  can  never  die  out — can  never  utterly  fail — can 
never  cease  to  grow  and  multiply  its  happy  results, 
forever  and  ever.  It  is  not  measured,  in  its  blessed 
product,  by  the  strength  of  the  muscle  that  sows  it, 
nor  by  the  power  of  the  intellect,  nor  by  the  age  or 
size  of  the  sower,  nor  by  the  experience  in  the  sow- 
ing. You  can  do  it  daily,  hourly,  and  not  tire. 
All  the  conditions  and  influences  requisite  for  the 


AND    JOYFUL    REAPING.  179 

iiuiidred-fuld  product  are  with  God.  And  the  ab- 
sohite  promise  is  ours.  All  that  is  asked  is  the 
earnest  act,  such  as  will  express  itself  often,  in  the 
tear-drop  of  anxiety  that  goes  along  with  the  seed 
into  the  ground;  and  then,  be  sure,  all  your  labor 
shall  be  more  than  recompensed  with  the  rich  har- 
vesting— and  all  the  iveeping  shall  be  more  than 
repaid  by  the  reaping. 

And,  my  brethren,  work  while  the  day  lasts! 
The  time  is  short.  Jesus  wept  at  the  grave  of 
Lazarus,  perhaps  because  that  faithful  disciple 
was  lost  to  the  town  of  Bethany — because  his 
labors  of  Christian  love  in  that  dear  household 
and  in  that  whole  community  were  ended — be- 
cause one  of  his  few  faithful  followers  had  gone  to 
the  grave  and  the  narrow  house  had  closed  upon 
all  his  influence  in  that  day  of  weakness  and  dark- 
ness. Think  how  every  day  shortens  your  oppor- 
tunities !  If  you  want  the  golden  sheaves  in  your 
arms  and  bosom,  you  must  sow  the  good  seed. 
You  shall  reap  what  you  sow. 

"And  beyond  the  sowing  and  the  reaping, 
Beyond  the  sighing  and  the  weeping, 
We  shall  be  soon." 


XI. 

CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLE. 

"He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least,  is  faithfial  also  in 
much:  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  unjust  also  in  much." — 
Luke  xvi.  lo. 

This  life  is  properly  called  probationary.  Though 
there  is  a  sense  in  which  all  the  race  had  their  trial 
in  their  Head  and  Representative,  there  is  another 
and  important  sense  in  which  each  man  is  put  on 
trial  for  himself  all  through  life.  It  is  so  by  the 
very  necessity  of  things. 

In  human  relations  it  is  universally  recognized. 
Every  man  stands  at  his  post  on  trial  for  higher 
and  more  responsible  positions  which  he  may  oc- 
cupy, if  he  be  found  faithful  in  this.  The  whole 
course  of  human  responsibility  is  subject  to  this 
law.  The  boy  who  is  true  to  the  claims  of  boy- 
hood— who  is  faithful  in  the  household  and  faithful 
in  the  school — is  the  boy  to  be  advanced  to  all  the 
graver  trusts  of  manhood.  And  so  the  good  son  is 
the  one  to  be  a  good  husband  and  a  good  father — 
and  a  good  householder  and  a  good  citizen  and  a 
good  Christian.  While  the  converse  is  held  to  be 
equally  true — that  the  bad  boy  comes  to  be  fit  for 
no  worthy  and  honorable  post  in  society.     And  so 


CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE.  181 

the  merchant's  clerk  is  put  upon  his  trial;  as  he 
conducts  himself  equal  to  his  task — faithful  in  his 
sphere — so  he  is  a  candidate  for  the  advanced  po- 
sitions of  business,  proves  himself  fit  to  take  the 
headship  and  to  become  a  master  in  his  calling. 

And  so  every  calling  is,  by  the  divine  constitu- 
tion, probationary.  The  man  is  subjected  to  tests 
such  as  belong  to  his  sphere  of  action,  according 
to  which  he  is  adjudged  faithful  or  not.  And  he 
is  everywhere  and  every  hour  the  candidate  for 
promotion  or  disgrace.  Fidelity  must  elevate  him, 
unfaithfidness  must  degrade  and  sink  him. 

And  this  is  so,  by  a  necessary  constitution,  be- 
cause, it  is  everywhere  recognized  that  principles 
must  decide  men's  character.  For,  in  the  long 
run,  principles  control  men's  conduct — good  prin- 
ciples or  bad — and  the  aim  of  all  practical  tests  in 
society  is  just  to  find  out  by  what  principles  a 
man's  living  is  swayed,  and  according  to  what 
rules  he  lives  and  acts. 

It  is  by  a  system  of  patient  inductions  that 
you  arrive  at  the  law  of  a  man's  conduct.  He 
is  watched  on  every  side.  Men  measure  him  and 
weigh  him ;  they  take  his  aims  and  bearings ;  they 
study  his  actions  in  ever  varying  circumstances; 
and  so,  at  length,  they  come  to  their  opinion  of 
him — believing  all  the  while  that  his  actions  are 
moulded  by  a  certain  law,  and  that,  in  these  daily 
particulars,  his  whole  self  is  acted  out. 

The  text  gives  us  the  formula  of  divine  inspira- 
tion to  this  same  effect. 

The  parable  of  the  unjust  steward  is  a  parable 


182  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

spoken  for  thousands  of  cases  in  every  age  of  the 
world.  How  a  man,  in  a  most  responsible  posi- 
tion, may  utterly  betray  his  trust  and  make  awful 
shipwreck  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him ;  how, 
under  some  special  pressure  of  temptation  or  trial, 
he  may  act  himself  out  and  develop  hidden  iniqui- 
ties which  show  his  unfitness  for  any  responsible 
station — this  is  the  picture  that  has  a  thousand 
forms  of  illustration  and,  like  the  kaleidoscope^  with 
the  same  elements,  turns  up  in  every  varying  as- 
pect of  human  demoralization. 

The  parable  is,  that  this  man  was  accused  to 
his  master  of  wasting  his  goods.  It  is  not  alleged 
that  he  had  actually  done  it — only  that  he  was  ac- 
cused of  having  done  it.  The  parable  will  show 
us  how  he  will  demean  himself  under  the  accusa- 
tion. You  may  be  sure  he  will  show  himself  the 
guilty  man  that  he  is,  by  following  his  thieving 
instincts  and  even  propagating  his  fraud  by  mak- 
ing his  lord's  debtors  accomplices  with  himself  in 
the  roguery.  The  man  who  could  waste  his  mas- 
ter's goods  was  the  man  who  could  so  unscrupu- 
lously go  on  to  sacrifice  his  master's  claims,  so  as 
to  promote  his  own  selfish  interests.  And  hence 
the  great  Teacher,  in  the  spirit  of  the  profoundest 
philosophy,  states  it  as  in  the  text — "He  that  is 
is  fcdthfiil  in  that  which  is  least  is  faithful  also  in 
much,  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  unjust 
also  in  much." 

Principle^  my  hearers — principle — this  is  the  de- 
mand of  society,  and  it  is  the  demand  of  Christ. 
The  advertisement  in  politics,  in  business,  in  the 


CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE.  183 

household,  in  the  church,  is  for  men  of  principle — 
high,  luiiform,  steady,  consistent  principle. 

There  are  men  who  are  said  to  be  men  of  no 
'principle — who  are  driven  by  every  wind,  who 
are  in  no  sense  reliable,  who  can  not  be  depended 
upon  for  any  firm,  unflinching  adherence  to  truth 
and  rectitude  in  all  circumstances,  and  whatever 
be  the  temptation  or  opposition  they  may  meet — 
men  of  straw — the  mere  chaff  of  society— drifting 
with  the  breeze,  the  light  and  empty  stuff",  the 
mere  refuse  and  stubble,  the  dead  wood  of  the 
vineyard,  that  is  fit  only  to  be  under  foot  and 
to  be  burned — men  of  present  impulse,  who  go 
according  to  the  wind  and  wave  of  the  hour,  who 
are  not  serious  enough  in  their  living  to  have 
adopted  any  fixed  laws  for  the  regulation  of  their 
conduct,  who  have  an  easy  way  with  then-  con- 
sciences, and  who  can  do  any  thing  that  they 
may  find  a  present,  pressing  motive  for  doing; 
who  will  be  unfaithful  whenever  they  think  they 
can  be  so  with  advantage  and  with  impunity; 
men  who  find  their  justification  with  themselves 
in  the  fact  that  others  do  likewise,  and  that  it  is, 
in  a  sort,  necessary  to  be  unprincipled  if  one  would 
do  business  or  would  make  money. 

Such  men  may  be  said  to  have  principle,  but 
their  principle  is  a  low,  selfish  interest.  They  may 
be  said  to  have  even  fixed  principles  of  dishonesty 
and  iniquity.  They  have  deliberately  adopted  for 
their  living  principles  of  falsity  and  corruption, 
of  lying  and  overreaching  in  trade,  and  of  debase- 
ment in  morals.     Moral  principle  of  such  soft  text- 


184  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

Tire  is  easily  eaten  out  by  slow  degrees — -just  as 
I  have  seen  in  oriental  houses,  where  the  worm 
stealthily  perforates  the  soft  wood  of  the  rafters 
and  so  completely  riddles  it,  that  the  fabric  comes 
tumbling  down  over  your  head.  And  therefore, 
the  cedar  of  Lebanon  was  so  valuable  for  the  tim- 
bers of  the  temple  because  the  worms  would  not 
infest  that  highly  aromatic  wood. 

Give  me  a  true  Christian,  whose  morals  are  based 
upon  Christ  and  Christianity,  and  I  know  he  is  of 
the  right  stuff.  The  men  who  are  the  rafters  in 
our  social  and  political  structures  ought  to  be 
the  cedar-of-Lebanon  men,  of  such  timber  as  God's 
Temple  is  built  of,  which  the  worms  of  corruption 
can  not  perforate,  with  an  aroma  such  as  worms 
can  not  bear. 

And  the  text  asserts  the  law  of  men's  devel- 
opment. 

This  life  is  a  life  of  princij^les,  where  the  small- 
est particulars  disclose  the  law  of  operation.  We 
speak  in  nature  of  a  principle  of  gravitation.  And 
we  know  that  it  shows  itself  in  the  tiniest  atoms 
as  well  as  in  the  massive  worlds.  It  was,  perhaps, 
the  falling  of  an  apple  from  a  tree  that  led  the 
great  philosopher  to  the  discovery  of  the  law  by 
which  the  vast  systems  of  the  starry  universe  are 
held  in  their  courses.  It  was  the  flying  of  a  kite 
which  unveiled  to  another  philosopher  the  princi- 
ple of  electricity.  And  I  have  seen,  in  the  great 
cathedral  at  Pisa,  where  Galileo,  by  the  swinging 
of  the  chandelier  from  the  high  vaulted  roof,  dis- 
covered the  principle  of  the  earth's  rotation.     And 


CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE.  185 

it  is  just  because  a  great  law  in  nature  must  take 
hold  of  minutest  particulars  and  so  must  prove 
itself  to  be  a  law,  that  the  smallest  items  have 
served  for  the  discovery  of  grandest  principles  in 
the  material  universe. 

And  so  it  is  uttered  here  of  men,  by  the  Great 
Searcher  of  hearts,  that  you  may  discover  their 
principles  of  action  by  the  merest  minutise  of  life 
— "  He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least  is 
faithful  also  in  much,  and  he  that  is  unjust  in 
the  least,  is  unjust  also  in  much."  That  departure 
from  duty  is  the  leak  in  the  ship's  side  that  makes 
the  wreck — it  is  the  breaking  of  the  link  in  the 
golden  chain  that  binds  the  soul  to  truth  and  honor 
and  to  God.  The  eye  of  the  needle  is  broken,  the 
blade  of  the  knife — therefore  it  is  that  offending 
in  one  point  is  guiltiness  of  all. 

Apply  this  law  to  our  higher  relations  and  see 
in  the  first  place  how,  if  one  have  religiotis  principle 
it  ivill  take  hold  of  smallest  particuLars. 

How  few  can  appreciate  the  Gospel  precept  that 
makes  our  religion  take  hold  of  our  eating  and 
drinking  and  of  whatsoever  we  do,  as  all  to  be 
done  to  the  glory  of  God!  God  has  not  so  writ- 
ten his  law  as  to  have  a  precept  for  every  item  of 
a  man's  living.  The  Decalogue  has  comprised  all 
the  commandments  in  ten.  The  wIk^Ic  moral  code 
for  every  possible  relation  and  condition  of  life  is 
written  on  tivo  tables,  and  in  half  a  score  of  com- 
mands. And  these  all  are  further  reduced  to  tivo 
great  commandments  and  tliese  two  to  one — and 
this  one  to  one  ivord — and  this  one  tuord  to  one  syl- 


186  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

lahle  and  tliat  one  syllable  is  Love!  And  in  this 
sense,  as  God  is  a  unit,  so  God  has  but  one  prin- 
ciple of  all  his  conduct.  And  men  are  to  have  the 
same  unity,  and  to  be  swayed  by  the  same  fixed, 
undeviating  law  which  shall  comprehend  and  con- 
trol all  their  actions. 

Take  the  pMlosopMccd  idea  of  God  and  according 
to  this,  he  is  simply  the  Great  First  Cause  and  Last 
End  of  all  things — the  cold  and  cheerless  origina- 
tor of  all  material  things,  the  prime  and  ultimate 
idea  that  is  necessary  to  a  beginning  of  all  created 
objects,  far  back  of  all  the  starry  universe,  before 
all  systems  of  worlds.  And  that  is  merely  a  for- 
mal principle  of  creatorship,  to  solve  the  mystery 
of  nature  and  to  answer  to  the  questionings  of 
reason,  as  to  the  origin  and  genesis  of  all  things. 
But  there  is  no  light  here  upon  personal  and  moral 
relations. 

Take  the  theological  idea  of  God  and  it  is  "God 
as  a  Spirit,  infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable  in 
his  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  good- 
ness and  truth."  And  nothing  less  could  make  out 
his  description;  and  these  are  his  attributes  which 
go  to  define  his  glorious  essence  and  to  describe 
his  unsearchable  being,  as  we  speak  of  him  and 
set  him  forth  to  one  another,  so  that  no  point  of 
his  relations  shall  be  left  out.  But  when  the  Gos- 
pel presents  God  in  his  p)ractical  relations  to  us,  as 
he  is  revealed  in  grace  for  our  salvation,  it  is  just 
one  ivord  that  expresses  it  all,  because  it  is  just  one 
principle  that  operates  in  all  the  details  of  his  re- 
deeming works  and  ways — and  that  word  is  love. 


CHRISTIAN    TRINCIPLE.  187 

And  so  it  is  the  same  word  which  expresses  the 
whole  commandment  for  men,  because,  this  one 
high  principle  must  operate  in  all  the  details  of 
Christian  living  and  must  take  hold  of  all  the 
minutiae  of  life. 

Just  as  in  the  material  world,  if  you  could  sur- 
vey at  a  glance  all  the  forces  in  operation  every- 
where— whether  animal  or  mechanical  or  physical 
— all  are  traceable  to  the  power  emanating  from 
the  sun.  The  force  of  the  muscle  that  wields  the 
hammer  or  that  moves  the  pen,  and  the  force  of 
the  steam  that  drives  the  locomotive  or  the  ocean 
vessel,  and  the  force  of  the  avalanche  that  tears 
the  mountain  sides — all  forces  from  the  volcano 
and  the  cataract  and  the  tornado  down  to  all  the 
minor  industries,  in  all  the  work  and  walk  of  life, 
they  have  all  but  one  source  of  all  their  power 
and  that  is  the  sun!  And  so  it  is  this  sun-force 
in  morals,  which  we  call  love,  that  accounts  for 
all  true  Christian  living.  In  other  aspects,  as  not 
merely  an  attribute  but  a  trait  of  character,  and  a 
working  power  in  the  moral  world,  you  may  call 
it  FIDELITY.  And  this  is  the  word  in  the  text  for 
meeting  God's  high  demand — a  faithfulness  that 
springs  from  Christian  faith  and  operates  in  all 
the  domain  of  human  conduct. 

Take  now  this  Christian  faithfulness.  I  say  that 
true  faithfulness  must  have  its  ground  and  essence 
in  the  Christian  faith.  Any  principle  of  any  lower 
origin  must  resolve  itself  into  some  of  the  world's 
poor  maxims  as  that  "Honesty  is  the  best  policy" 
— that  is,  that  a  man  must  be  honest  if,  on  the 


188  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

long  run,  he  would  succeed  in  life,  and  that  this 
proverb  is  the  finding  of  human  observation  and 
experience — the  verdict  of  soundest  worldly  philos- 
ophy— that  one  had  better  practice  honesty  than 
not,  out  of  mere  policy,  and  for  his  own  selfish 
interest — for  his  standing  in  the  community,  for 
his  peace  of  mind,  for  his  success  in  life,  and  for 
his  comfort  in  death.  But  this  is  not  faithfulness, 
in  the  higher  sense.  One  may  be  unfaithful  with- 
out being  pronounced  dishonest,  as  the  world  goes, 
and  so  he  may  be  honest — no  thief,  no  defaulter — 
yet  without  h^m^ faithful.  But  when  you  come  to 
a  fidelity  which  is  actuated  by  a  strong  Christian 
faith  which  credits  these  Scriptures  in  all  their  ful- 
ness, embraces  these  Christian  promises,  entertains 
these  Christian  hopes,  takes  firm  hold  of  eternal 
realities,  as  here  revealed,  communes  with  God, 
takes  counsel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  under  habitual 
influence  of  the  powers  of  the  wprld  to  come — that 
is  a  Christian  fidelity  which  reaches  the  highest 
idea  of  human  faithfulness,  and  takes  hold  of  all 
the  details  of  living.  That  is  the  high  quality  that 
makes  a  truly  faithful  man. 

I  know  that  Satan  is  strong,  that  his  temptations 
are  sharp  and  severe,  that  a  man  may  sometimes 
find  himself  struck,  as  by  a  tornado  of  his  power, 
or  be  skilfully  lassoed  by  his  arts ;  I  know  that  he 
beguiled  Eve  through  his  subtlety.  But  I  know 
that  this  is  the  very  weighty  motive  for  binding 
ourselves  fast,  by  Christian  principle  and  habit, 
and  for  throwing  ourselves  into  the  arms  of  divine 
power  and  grace  that  alone  can  overthrow  Satan 


CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE.  18Q 

and  his  hosts.  Show  me  the  man  who  adopts  this 
Christian  method  of  hving,  and  I  know  he  is  trusty 
in  all  the  relations  of  life. 

Do  you  not  see  that  men  had  rather  employ  for 
a  confidential  clerk,  or  for  any  office  of  trust,  one 
wlio  is  professedly  and  manifestly  a  Christian ;  and 
when  you  can  say  of  a  man  that  he  has  Christian 
priiicijyle,  you  have  in  a  word  passed  the  highest 
encomium  upon  his  character  and  living  ?  One 
standard  of  all  his  conduct,  one  single  rule  of  all 
his  life,  one  single  eye  to  his  great  aim  and  object, 
one  thing  to  do,  one  cause  to  serve,  one  pattern  to 
imitate,  and  that,  the  highest,  purest  possible;  one 
Christ-like  career  to  run,  and  hence  one  consistent, 
unwavering  Christian  course  of  duty.  This  prin- 
ciple of  loyalty  to  Christ,  call  it  what  you  will — 
love,  faithfulness — this  is  Christian  principle,  and 
Jesus  himself  bears  on  his  vesture  the  name  Faith- 
ful and  True. 

Consider  now,  further,  how  the  littles  in  life  illus- 
trate 'princi2:>le. 

Two  hinidred  years  ago,  when  Sir  Christopher 
"Wren  was  building  Saint  Paul's  Cathedral  in  Lon- 
don, a  countryman  came  to  him,  seeking  employ- 
ment in  wood-carving.  The  great  architect  asked 
him  Avhat  he  had  been  used  to  carve.  The  man 
confused  and  trembling  answered  that  he  had  been 
used  to  carve  troughs.  "  Troughs !  "  said  Sir  Chris- 
topher, "then  carve  me  a  group  of  swine,  and  bring 
it  here  this  day  week."  True  to  the  appointment, 
the  man  came  with  his  carving  and  was  at  once 
engaged  for  sev^en  years  as  Avood-carver  on  that 


190  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

magnificent  edifice.  Faithful  in  littles  his  faitJiful- 
ness  in  much  was  inferred.  If  the  great  law  of  at- 
traction did  not  bind  together  the  minutest  atoms, 
it  could  not  bind  together  the  planets.  So,  if  the 
law  of  Christian  love  and  of  Christian  loyalty  does 
not  act  in  minor  particulars,  it  can  not  act  as  a  law 
at  all. 

See  how  Christianity  comes  every  day  out  of  the 
secret  closet  and  steps  forth  from  those  concealed 
and  private  acts  of  communion  with  God  to  all 
the  thousand  cares  and  labors  of  the  day.  See 
how  personal  religion  is  manifested  by  the  daily 
tempers  in  manifold  details;  how  it  shows  itself  in 
the  tender  and  gentle  offices  of  home,  before  it 
goes  out  into  business;  and  how  along  the  street 
it  puts  forth  the  hand  of  charity  and  stoops  with 
benefaction  to  the  hut  of  poverty ;  drops  a  word  of 
Christian  counsel  to  the  erring  and  seeks  to  re- 
claim the  wanderer  by  some  kindly  act,  all  in  a 
way  to  show  the  ruling  passion  of  Christian  love. 

When  Christ  entered  on  his  ministry  and  began 
by  expounding  to  men  the  law  of  Sinai,  he  gave  as 
a  wonderful  summary  of  it  all,  as  a  precept  and 
rule  of  living  for  all,  that  Golden  Eule  that  has 
been  the  admiration  of  all  the  world,  "As  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them 
likewise,  for  this  is  the  law  and  prophets." 

But  his  Gospel  reveals  a  new  commandment.  What 
is  it?  Is  it  to  love  others  as  we  would  have  them 
love  us?  No!  To  love  others  as  they  love  us? 
No!  To  love  others  as  we  love  ourselves?  No! 
To  love  others  as  lue  love  Christ?     No!     But  to 


CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE.  191 

love  others  as  Christ  has  loved  us.  And  so  it  is  that 
faith  in  Christ  takes  hold  of  tlie  precious,  gracious 
fact  of  his  love  to  us,  and  so  it  Avorks  out  the  Chris- 
tian faithfulness  in  all  the  relations,  from  the  least 
even  to  the  greatest ;  and  so  love  to  Christ  becomes 
love  to  one  another,  and  resolves  itself  into  that 
manifold  love  which  runs  through  all  society.  And 
so  it  is  that,  as  in  the  golden  candlestick  of  Zecha- 
riah,  the  oil  in  the  bowl  at  the  top  and  crown  of 
the  whole  is  supplied  by  the  living  olive-trees  on 
either  hand,  and  so  runs  down  through  all  the 
seven  pipes  and  branches  for  the  living  illumina- 
tion of  the  Avorld. 

Then  consider  further,  lioio  character  acts  itself 
out  most  naturally  and  freely  in  little  things. 

No  man  can  be  faithless  in  little  and  faithful  in 
much.  No!  It  is  just  Avhen  men  are  off  their 
guard,  unconstrained  by  their  surroundings,  that 
you  may  see  their  real  selves.  What  they  do 
apart  from  special  impulse,  and  only  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  their  governing  principle,  that  exhibits 
them  in  their  true  light.  Therefore  it  is  that  se- 
cret prayer  and  private  study  of  God's  word  are 
held  to  be  so  evidential  of  Christian  sincerity.  He 
that  seeth  in  secret  will  reward  such  openly,  and 
the  reward  shall  sit  like  a  crown  upon  the  head, 
like  a  halo  on  the  brow.  If  it  be  only  out  of 
doors,  or  of  Sundays,  that  a  man  is  religious,  you 
know  that  there  is  nothing  in  all  that  which  may 
not  be  explained  by  a  cold,  heartless,  selfish  policy. 
But  when  one  is  found  to  be  habitually  set  upon 
religious  living,  volunteering  Christian  work,  seek- 


192  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

ing  out  Christian  service;  when  his  thoughts  mani- 
festly take  that  direction,  and  casual  words  dropped 
in  conversation  show  it,  and  the  constant  likings 
and  leanings  evince  it;  and  when  Christian  duty 
is  evidently  a  matter  of  taste  and  not  of  task;  and 
when  an  ever-present  law  of  Christian  action  sways 
the  whole  man,  on  small  occasions  as  well  as  on 
great  ones,  in  the  social  assembly  as  well  as  on 
the  Sabbath ;  and  when  on  week-days,  he  is  found 
illustrating,  by  his  walk,  the  Christian  ideal  that 
is  set  forth  in  the  sanctuary,  then  you  know  that 
he  may  be  relied  on  as  a  Christian  man.  You  may 
count  on  his  hearty  support  for  all  that  is  good — 
without  shirking,  without  shiinking,  without  vacil- 
lation, without  that  gross  and  palpable  inconsist- 
ency which  makes  some  men's  record  a  mere  yes 
and  no,  all  the  way  through  life ! 

And  then  consider,  further,  that  life  is  made  up 
of  the  littles. 

As  these  breaths  and  pulsations  make  up  the 
physical  life,  so  our  Christian  living  must  be  shown 
in  detail,  if  at  all.  Life  is  too  short  to  wait  for  the 
rare  and  special  tests  which  might  seem,  in  them- 
selves, so  conclusive.  You  must  put  this  and  that 
together,  and  all  these  minute  items  prove  the 
principle  and  law  of  living.  Like  the  lines  and 
pages  of  a  book,  they  are  the  lines  and  chapters 
and  paragraphs  of  life — the  words  and  sentences 
by  which  we  must  read  a  man  and  which  make  up 
his  record. 

And  then  a  consistent,  steadfast  aim,  in  all  tilings, 
makes  the  little  to  become  50  much.     To  one  who 


CHRISTIAN    PRINXIPLE.  193 

lias  no  such  principled  object  of  living,  these  items 
seem  trifles.  But  every  fabric  of  the  garments  that 
you  wear  must  be  woven  with  particular  threads, 
and  that  fabric  goes  upon  you  as  your  clothing  or 
habit  And  these  threads  of  life  become  habits  by 
this  principle. 

So  the  weaver,  after  a  pattern  with  his  steady 
aim  in  view,  brings  his  threads  into  their  beautiful 
combination,  delicate  and  expressive,  like  the  Gob- 
elin tapestry,  as  if  from  the  pencil  of  the  painter. 
And  so  I  have  seen  the  oriole,  with  an  eye  to  the 
structure  of  her  nest,  gathering  up  the  hairs  and 
threads  from  the  rubbish,  and  skilfully  sewing 
them  into  the  bag  that  she  also  suspends  from 
the  bough  as  her  domicile  for  the  little  ones. 

And  then  the  little  becomes  much  by  natural  and 
necessary  development. 

The  man  who  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  unjust  also 
in  much,  because  it  leads  to  this,  because  he  is  rap- 
idly advancing  to  that  further  stage  of  progress. 
The  waster  becomes  the  embezzler,  and  the  pil- 
ferer becomes  the  robber,  and  the  robber  becomes 
the  highwayman,  and  the  highwayman  plies  his 
fiendish  art  till  he  can  even  set  the  trap  to  throw 
the  midnight  train  off  tlie  rail,  with  its  load  of 
human  freight,  and  then,  can  cruelly  file  off"  from 
the  finger  of  a  dying  Avoman  in  the  wreck  the  dia- 
mond ring  which  was  the  token  of  wedded  love. 

The  sentiment  of  our  Lord  in  the  text,  so  pro- 
foundly illustrated  by  the  parable  of  the  unjust 
steward,  is  tliat  a  lofty  Christian  i^rinciple  is  what 
is  called  for  in  life  as  the  only  safeguard  of  a  man 
13 


194  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

ill  temptation,  the  only  steady,  satisfactory,  propel- 
ling power  of  a  man's  living,  and  the  pledge  of  an 
eternal  future.  Christ  calls  for  faithful  men,  loyal 
to  his  cause  and  crown  and  covenant;  at  all  times 
faithful^  through  evil  report  and  through  good  yq- 
-poi't;  fait] fid  under  burdens — bearing  crosses,  en- 
during sacrifices — or  in  the  giddy  whirl  of  position 
and  prosperity  faitJfuI,  and  faithful  through  and 
through ! 

And  he  suggests  to  ns  all  the  solemn  truth  that 
this  life  is  tentative,  experimental  and  formative, 
in  reference  to  the  life  hereafter;  that  here,  we  are 
daily  subjected  to  testing  processes  that  shall  dis- 
cover what  we  are,  and  how  we  shall  be  found 
worthy  or  unworthy  of  the  higher  trusts  and  of- 
fices of  the  heavenly  Avorld.  And  it  is  only  as  a 
man  is  found  possessed  of  Christian  principle,  that 
he  can  be  advanced  and  promoted  to  the  higher 
positions  beyond,  where  Christ  is  head.  All  this 
earthly  stewardship,  all  these  business  operations, 
all  this  buying  and  selling  and  contracting  and 
executing  is  only  a  means  of  proving  men  by  the 
lower  and  secular  responsibilities,  finding  out  their 
true  character  and  their  real  principles,  and  decid- 
ing whether  they  shall  be  entrusted  with  the  riches 
of  that  higher  sphere.  And  this  is  the  question,  as 
Christ  powerfully  puts  it,  "If  ye  have  not  been 
faithful  in  the  nnrighteous  mammon,  who  shall 
commit  to  your  trust  the  true  riches?"  If  here,  on 
trial  as  stewards  of  that  which  is  sordid  and  per- 
ishing, you  have  utterly  failed,  have  wasted  God's 
goods,  or  have  returned  no  proper  account  to  God, 


CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE.  195 

then  liow  could  you  expect  a  position  of  trust  in 
that  upper  court  and  kingdom?  "And  if  ye  have 
not  been  faithful  in  that  which  is  another  man's, 
who  shall  give  you  that  which  is  your  own."  If 
not  faithful  as  steiuards,  how  shall  you  be  made 
lords  of  the  household?  If  not  faithful  as  agents, 
who  shall  make  you  prindimls?  If,  with  these 
small  sums  committed  to  your  charge,  you  have 
wasted  the  Master's  goods  and  for  purposes  of  self- 
emolument  have  made  unfair  alliances  and  com- 
binations and  unjust  returns;  if  you  betray  an 
utter  lack  of  Christian  principle  in  your  use  of  the 
worldly  means  entrusted  to  you,  who  shall  commit 
to  your  trust  the  true  riches,  the  immense  estates 
and  ample  treasures  of  the  heavenly  world?  If 
you  are  faithful  only  as  between  man  and  man, 
and  not  as  between  man  and  God,  that  is  being 
faithful  to  the  employees  and  not  to  the  employer. 
This  is  a  life  of  germs  and  rudiments.  This  train- 
ing is  elementary.  We  are  here  at  school.  Every 
day's  lessons  are  given  us  in  the  culture  of  the  soul 
for  the  cultiis  or  w^orship  of  eternity.  The  little, 
even  here,  advances  to  much.  The  juvenile  piety 
soon  becomes  manly,  stalwart,  heroic,  and  passes 
on  to  glory  for  nobler  deeds  and  honors.  We  are 
here  learning  the  alphabet  and  spelling  out  the 
syllables  of  that  language  which  we  are  to  speak, 
and  in  which  we  are  to  read  God's  works  and  ways 
forever.  Every  man  is  training  in  that  dialect  in 
which  he  shall  hold  converse  in  all  eternity.  The 
street  we  travel  here  up  to  the  edge  of  the  river  is 
continued  on  the  other  side  the  same  street,  and 


196  CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

is  called  there  by  the  same  name  forever  and  for- 
ever. As  we  travel  here  so  shall  we  journey  there 
to  all  eternity. 

It  is  fit  that  temptations  should  come  upon  us  in 
this  life;  it  is  fit  that  they  should  assail  us  with 
tremendous  power ;  and  in  the  midst  of  their  hot- 
test, most  fiery  darts,  there  is  but  one  safe,  infal- 
lible recourse,  and  that  is  indicated  in  the  prayer 
put  into  our  mouths  by  the  Master  himself^ — "  Lead 
us  not  into  temptation,"  but  lead  us  out  of  it — "de- 
liver us  from  the  evil." 

My  hearers,  the  great  investigation  is  coming  on, 
and  for  each  of  us.  And  who,  then,  is  that  faith- 
ful and  wise  steward  whom  his  lord  shall  make 
ruler  over  all  that  he  hath?  Oh!  is  there  no  wor- 
thy ambition  for  the  dignities  and  preferments  and 
emoluments  of  the  eternal  world  ?  Every  thought 
and  action  passes  into  the  account  for  that  great 
day.  Amidst  the  terrors  and  glories  of  the  judg- 
ment-seat, who  can  imagine  the  joy  of  the  man  to 
whom  the  Judge  shall  say — "  Because  thou  hast 
been  faithful  in  a  very  little^  in  a  very  little,  have 
tliou  authority  over  ten  cities !  " 


XII. 
UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

"In  every  thing  give  thanks;  for  this  is  the  will  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus  concerning  you." — I  Thess.  v.   i8. 

The  religion  of  Christ  proposes  to  inspire  men 
with  a  sentiment  of  liveliest  gratitude^  that  so  it 
may  incite  them  to  a  life  of  loftiest  praise.  It 
makes  it  our  first  and  highest  duty  to  be  thank- 
ful, and  thus  it  provides  directly  for  our  highest 
happiness.  It  sets  before  us  the  most  abounding 
incentives  to  thanksgiving.  And  who  does  not 
know  that  praise  is  pleasant  and  comely — that  the 
spirit  of  praise  is  the  spirit  of  joyfulness  ? 

This  universal  thanksgiving  is  the  will  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  us — a  secret  found  out 
by  few.  The  will  of  God  seems  to  most  to  be 
harsh  and  repulsive — only  a  severe  decree  or  an 
inexorable  demand  for  an  obedience  which  is  un- 
natural and  irksome ;  only  a  rigorous  exaction  of 
duty  under  the  threatening  of  a  swift -coming 
judgment. 

But  properly  understood,  the  will  of  God  is  not 
simply  law,  but  Gospel  also.  It  is  indeed  the  rev- 
elation of  law  in  order  to  the  appreciation  of  the 
Gospel.     It  is  not  simply  the  absolute  will  of  God 


198  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

which  is  revealed — it  is  good-will  to  men.  It  is 
the  Avill  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  us; 
and  that  will  is,  that  we  shall  exercise  an  habitual 
thankfulness,  that  we  shall  live  under  the  constant 
inspiration  of  gratitude,  that  our  lives  shall  be  one 
anthem  of  praise,  that  every  relation  in  which  God 
stands  to  us  and  in  which  we  stand  to  God  shall 
provoke  our  thanks,  and  that  by  every  new  com- 
mandment we  shall  be  put  under  new  obligation 
of  thanksgiving.  This  is  what  the  religion  of 
Christ  contemplates  for  us. 

This  appears,  firsts  from  the  light  in  which  God 
is  presented  to  us  as  the  Author  of  our  being. 

A  personal  God  and  not  any  dumb  idol  of  the 
heathen  claims  our  praise  as  our  Creator — not  any 
impersonal  principle  of  creative  energy,  not  any 
abstract  law  of  nature,  not  any  mere  idea  of  de- 
velopment. 

Pity  upon  the  poor  sceptic  who  argues  out  his 
own  creation  from  some  dumb  theory  of  matter, 
and  tries  to  find  the  origin  and  source  of  his  be- 
ing in  the  lower  animal  tribes;  who  would  attrib- 
ute the  race  of  mankind  to  a  slow  development 
from  the  race  of  fishes  and  of  beasts,  instead  of  a 
development  of  God's  plan  in  creation,  working 
up  from  the  lower  to  the  higher.  Whom  has  he 
to  thank  for  his  existence  ?  An  idea  !  A  theory ! 
An  abstraction !  A  law  of  nature !  But  no  God  ! 
The  astronomer  Lalande  declared  that  he  had 
searched  through  the  heavens  with  his  telescope 
and  had  not  found  God:  as  though  God  were  a 
material  object,  like  a  star,  to  be  found  with  a  tele- 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  199 

scope.  This  is  the  madness  and  mockery  of  the 
false  science,  while  the  true  science  everywhere 
finds  God  in  his  works.  The  fool  hath  said  in  his 
heart—"  No  God." 

Blank  materialism  and  atheism,  cheerless  and 
black  as  midnight,  comes  into  popular  favor,  just 
from  an  impatience  of  these  gracious  restraints' 
which  the  religion  of  Christ  imposes  upon  us;  just 
from  a  hatred  of  being  beholden  even  to  God  or 
of  being  bound  even  to  thanksgiving,  under  a 
sense  of  personal  favor  at  his  hands. 

But  this  plan  of  God,  to  put  us  upon  a  life  of 
thanksgiving,  appears  further,  in  the  fact  that  our 
creation  is  represented  as  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Not  the  absolute  idea  of  Godhead  as  a  great  spirit 
of  the  Indian,  or  the  abstract  Divinity  as  a  su- 
preme Power  in  the  world  of  matter,  but  the  sec- 
ond Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity — this  Logos, 
Theanthropos,  God-man,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
We  are  referred  to  him  who  hath  redeemed  us, 
as  the  Personal  Agent  in  giving  us  being.  And 
then  it  is  our  glory,  not  so  much  that  we  were  not 
made  brutes,  as  that  our  ^laker  is  allied  to  us  in 
our  humanity — allied  to  us  even  in  nature,  as  him- 
self the  model  after  which  we  were  formed;  and 
then  coming  himself  to  be  formed  in  our  human 
image.  And  here  we  find  that  there  was,  from  all 
eternity,  an  ideal  of  manhood  in  the  Godhead,  after 
whose  image  man  was  made.  The  Godhead  aim- 
ing to  express  itself  in  manhood  and  man,  in  his 
creation,  thus  made  to  foreshadow  and  herald  forth 
the  God-man ! 


200  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

And  then  even  more  than  this,  we  get  the  idea 
of  God's  Fatherhood,  not  from  his  absolute  Creator- 
ship  so  much  as  from  the  Sonship  of  him  by  whom 
we  are  created — in  whose  image  Ave  are  made  and 
through  whose  Sonship  we  are  made  sons.  And 
so  our  existence  is  announced  as  having  come  to 
lis  from  the  very  same  hands  which  were  pierced 
for  our  redemption  by  the  nails  of  the  cross.  Oh 
what  a  cheering  revelation  is  this,  that  he  hath 
created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ !  Then  our  orig- 
inal creation  from  the  dust  is  associated  closely 
with  the  incarnation  at  Bethlehem  and  with  this 
new  creation  in  which  we  are  recreated  in  Christ 
Jesus  unto  good  works.  And  so  every  pulsation 
of  our  heart  is  commissioned  to  speak  his  praise  as 
the  Author  of  our  being,  and  of  our  redeemed  and 
glorified  being,  here  and  hereafter. 

And  this  principle  is  still  further  apparent  from 
the  plan  of  God  in  providence  and  grace,  always 
to  put  us  under  Gospel  obligations. 

This  is  indeed  the  meaning  of  those  sacred,  gra- 
cious ties  by  which  we  are  held  fast  to  God  in 
Christ.  They  are  Christian  obligations — bonds  of 
gratitude — all  having  their  basis  in  the  work  of 
Jesus  Christ,  accomplished  for  us  in  a  suffeiing 
life  and  a  shameful  death  and  a  glorious  resurrec- 
tion. And  though  the  natural  heart  chafes  under 
these  Gospel  commandments,  as  a  restraint  to  car- 
nal appetites,  they  are  simply  calls  to  grateful  re- 
membrance of  Jesus.  There  is  no  providential  fa- 
vor w^e  receive,  not  even  our  breath  nor  our  daily 
bread,  but  we  are  taught  to  accept  it  as  from  the 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  201 

very  hand  of  our  covenant  Lord  and  Saviour — the 
God-man.  And  so  there  is  no  single  duty  which 
we  are  commanded  to  discharge  under  the  Gospel, 
but  is  enjoined  upon  us  in  the  very  same  strain  as 
his  dying  command  to  sit  around  his  table.  This 
do,  and  this,  and  this,  in  remembrance  of  me ! 

Properly  understood  then,  every  duty  is  to  be 
entered  upon  and  performed  in  the  spirit  of  grate- 
ful song  and  in  thankful  remembrance  of  his  death 
for  us.  We  are  bidden  to  go  out  to  our  day's  toil 
and  even  to  the  day's  burdens  and  hardships,  sing- 
ing!  For  these  daily  obligations  are  only  the  gold- 
en cords  by  which  he  would  bind  us  fast  and  faster 
to  himself 

Enclosed  within  them  all  is  the  historic  thread 
of  his  sorrow  and  self-sacrifice  for  us,  calling  for 
some  poor  requital.  And  Christian  duty  is  meant 
to  be  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God,  continually, 
where,  instead  of  smoking  lambs  or  wreatiiing  in- 
cense, is  the  volume  of  hearty  thanks  to  God, 
which  these  only  symbolized — expressed,  not  only 
in  words,  but  in  works. 

We  have  come  to  use  the  word  "'sacrifice"  as 
synonymous  with  hardship  and  loss.  But  this  is 
only  a  confession  of  our  reluctance  in  God's  service. 

It  is  the  sacrifice  of  praise.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
whole  commandment  is  fulfilled  by  love.  It  could 
not  be  expressed  by  any  specific  deed  or  catalogue 
of  deeds ;  but  it  is  expressed  by  one  glowing  afi"ec- 
tion  of  the  soul — all  inclusive — comprehending  all 
that  is  to  be  felt  and  all  that  is  to  be  done,  where 
the  love  finds  manifold  expression  in  action.     It 


202  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

is  the  well-spring  of  a  voluntary  and  cordial  obedi- 
ence. And  so  it  is  love  always  answering  to  love. 
Even  the  ten  commandments  of  Sinai  are  answered 
to  by  love.  For  love  is  personal  and  binds  us  to 
the  object,  Avhich  is  God  himself,  and  leads  to 
manifold  utterances  in  the  lips  and  in  the  life. 
No  other  gods  to  acknowledge,  no  idols  to  wor- 
ship, no  profanation  of  God's  name  to  indulge, 
and  the  tender  and  devout  remembrance  of  him 
culminating  in  his  own  day.  These  are  only  ex- 
pressions of  love.  And  so  we  may  conceive  of 
God,  in  all  his  laws,  as  only  putting  us  upon  the 
platform  of  praise  and  only  binding  us  to  love 
himself,  as  he  is  revealed  in  his  law — to  thank 
and  bless  his  name  in  all  our  living,  and  all  the 
while  putting  a  new  song  into  our  mouths,  even 
praise  to  our  God. 

And  this  same  idea  is  further  apparent  if  we 
consider  what  he  plans  for  us  in  the  new  nature. 

When  he  transforms  us,  when  he  works  with- 
in us  a  new  heart  and  new  spirit,  it  is  mostly  a 
heartiness  of  thankful  service  and  a  spirit  and 
temper  of  thanksgiving  in  all  our  lives,  to  Avhich 
we  are  introduced.  The  new  eye  to  see  is  an 
eye  for  the  beautiful  in  God's  character,  word  and 
works — beholding  loveliness  in  it  all,  and  ground 
for  gratulation  in  it  all,  and  call  for  praise  in  it 
all.  And  the  Christian  spirit  is  therefore,  mainly, 
a  spirit  of  thankfulness  which  is,  first  of  all,  a  con- 
fession of  dependence  and,  next,  an  expression  of 
loving  obedience.  The  exercises  of  the  new  na- 
ture  are,   therefore,   the   happy   responses   of  the 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  203 

heart  to  Christ,  the  glad  and  grateful  recognition 
of  his  claims,  the  cheerful  admiration  of  Jesus  in 
the  Scriptures  and  in  nature  and  in  all  that  he  is 
and  does,  the  jubilant  testimonies  to  his  faithful- 
ness, the  loving  expressions  of  gratitude  to  him  in 
all  the  life. 

And  still  further,  this  plan  and  principle  of  the 
religion  of  Christ,  to  inspire  us  with  thanksgiving, 
must  be  apparent  from  the  provision  made  for  us 
by  Christ's  finished  Avork. 

That  heritage  of  joy  hereafter  is  everywhere  de- 
picted for  us  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  stimulant  to 
every  blissful  expectation.  The  bounding-  heart, 
under  its  deepest  sorrows  or  cares,  is  bidden  to 
rejoice  in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by 
whom  we  have  now  received  the  atonement.  And 
we  are  animated  by  a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory,  receiving  the  end  of  our  faith,  even  the 
salvation  of  our  souls.  Through  all  the  darkness 
and  midnight  of  the  world's  troubles,  this  ineffable 
glory  from  the  other  side  beams  upon  us — where 
all  is  joy  and  all  is  peace — Avhere  there  is  no  voice 
but  that  of  song,  because  there  is  no  sentiment  but 
that  of  thankfulness  and  no  aim  but  that  of  a 
loving  devotion  for  all  eternity.  Out  of  the  depths 
of  poverty,  on  the  hardest  cot  of  straw,  and  suf- 
fering the  agony  of  disease  on  the  brink  of  disso- 
lution, the  poor  believer  is  "begotten  again  unto 
a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and 
undefiled." 

There,   in   that   blest   estate,   the  occupation   is 


204  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

praise,  the  duty  is  praise,  and  the  law  of  the  so- 
ciety is  praise,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  place  is 
praise — songs  of  everlasting  joy  are  on  the  heads 
of  the  ransomed  throng.  And  the  highest  concep- 
''ion  of  heaven,  as  a  state  of  blessedness,  is  this : 
that  it  is  an  estate  of  happy  fellowship  with  God 
and  happy,  grateful  devotion  to  God  foi-ever. 

And  God's  aim  for  each  of  us  in  Christ  Jesus — 
his  thought  of  love  for  us  in  Christ  is,  that  we 
shall  be  happy  in  him  in  the  giving  of  thanks  to 
him,  so  that  he  shall  receive  our  ascriptions  of 
praise  eternally,  making  him  most  blessed  in  the 
blessings  we  ascribe  to  him,  for  blessings  bestowed 
upon  us.  And  there,  in  the  retrospect  of  our  earth- 
ly career,  we  shall  forever  praise  him  for  all  the 
way  in  which  he  has  led  us  to  glory. 

But  there  is  a  second  point  in  the  text  and 
equally  involved  in  this  religion  of  Christ.  It  is 
that  in  every  thing  w^e  are  to  give  thanks ;  for  this 
thing  that  occurs  to  us  in  p7'ovidence,  Avhatever 
it  be,  is  the  will  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  concern- 
ing us. 

It  is  easy  to  glory  in  prosperity;  but  it  is  no 
easy  thing  to  glory  in  tribulation  and  to  glory  in 
it  just  for  being  able  to  see  through  it  to  the  glory 
Avhich  it  works  out.  It  is  not  easy  for  us  to  believe 
that  God  has  constant  thoughts  respecting  us — 
has  even  a  plan  for  each  of  us — a  perfect  plan  for 
us  to  follow  out,  if  we  will ;  a  plan  comprising  all 
our  lot  in  life.     But  it  is  even  so. 

He  said  to  Cyrus,  when  he  commissioned  him  as 
tlie  deliverer  of  his. people  from  Babylon:  "I  have 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  205 

girded  thee,  tlioiigh  thou  hast  not  known  me." 
lie  meant,  that  all  the  steps  by  Avhich  that  g-reat 
leader  of  his  people  out  of  captivity  had  been  him- 
self led  by  God,  were  just  in  order  to  that  result, 
so  glorious  and  triumphant,  though  the  man  was 
most  unconscious  of  it  all. 

Who  doubts  that  Jesus  traversed  the  other  side 
of  Jordan  and  came  to  Jericho  with  an  eye  to  heal 
the  blind  men  there,"  and  to  convert  Zaccheus  the 
publican  there  ?  Who  doubts  that,  just  as  the  sun 
courses  along  his  path  in  the  sky,  to  lighten  differ- 
ent hemispheres  and  to  gladden  different  homes 
and  even  to  pour  his  soft  beams  upon  the  cottage, 
the  most  humble  garden  plot,  and  to  warm  and 
bless  the  tiniest  wild  flower  of  the  prairie,  so  fJesus 
trod  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  to  seek  out  that 
Syrophenician  woman,  and  came  thirsting,  at  noon- 
time, to  the  well  of  Jacob,  to  meet  that  very  woman 
of  Samaria  there?  Who  doubts  that  God's  great 
mind  teems  with  thoughts  about  you  and  me — 
with  his  plans  for  you  and  me — and  that  his  plan 
of  grace  is  comprehensive  of  all  our  cases  and  cir- 
cumstances ?  Oh !  if  God  could  make  any  mis- 
take; if  he  could  ever  forget,  or  fail,  or  falter;  if 
any  person  or  item  in  his  domain  of  creatures 
could  escape  his  notice  or  elude  his  control;  if  he 
did  not  literally  preserve  and  govern  all  his  crea- 
tures and  all  their  actions;  if  it  were  not  literally 
true  that  every  hair  of  our  head  is  numbered,  that 
a  sparrow  does  not  fall  to  the  ground  by  the  stone 
or  arrow  of  the  heedless  boy  without  our  Father, 
then  how  would  our  ground  of  confidence  and  con- 


206  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

solatioii  be  utterly  swept  away  from  us,  amidst  all 
this  turmoil  of  life  ? 

But  observe,  first,  the  whole  scheme  of  2^rovidence 
is  redemptive. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  the  history  of  re- 
demption. The  history  of  providence,  as  it  em- 
braces all  individuals  and  nations  from  the  begin- 
ning, is  the  history  of  God's  redeeming  plan.  And 
providence,  in  all  its  amazing  scheme  and  struct- 
ure, has  just  one  grand  idea — one  focus  for  all  its 
scattered  beams,  one  nucleus  around  w^hich  all  its 
events  beautifully  crystallize — and  that  is  God's 
idea  of  redemption  by  Christ  Jesus.  If  this  be 
so,  then  no  event,  whether  public  or  private,  so- 
cial or  personal,  but  is  more  or  less  directly  or 
remotely  within  this  broad  circumference.  Prov- 
idence, in  all  its  dealings  with  you  and  me,  is 
redemptive. 

Your  own  experience  has  possibly  taught  you 
to  say  of  this  or  that  dark  event  in  your  history 
— "It  is  best" — on  the  bare  principle  that  what- 
ever befalls  us  will  somehow  eventuate  well;  or 
out  of  a  determination  to  keep  up  heart,  and  take 
things  as  they  come  in  a  stoical  indifference;  or 
even  out  of  a  disposition  to  hope  at  least  for  some 
good  result  which  may  possibly  come  out  of  the 
darkness.  But  here  is  an  enlightened,  intelligent 
and,  above  all,  grateful  view  to  be  taken  of  every 
affliction,  great  or  small,  that  this  particular  thing, 
hard  as  it  is  to  bear,  is  the  will  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  concerning  you. 

Firsts  that  it  is  willed  by  God.     No  accident, 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  207 

no  irresponsible  fate,  no  mere  craft  or  malice  of 
man,  no  uncontrolled  spite  of  Satan,  but  God's  par- 
ticular intent. 

And  second^  that  it  is  his  intent  in  Christ  Jesus, 
comprised  Avithin  his  plan  of  grace — liot  there- 
fore any  severit}^,  not  in  mere  judgment,  but  as 
belonging  to  the  scheme  of  grace  and  salvation 
by  Christ  Jesus. 

And  thirdly,  that  it  is  his  plan  concerniug  you, 
personally,  as  a  link  in  the  golden  chain  of  your 
salvation,  as  a  direct  and  individual  provision  of 
grace  for  your  very  self 

Ah!  here  lies  the  secret  of  rejoicing  in  tribula- 
tion, of  glorying  in  infirmities,  of  taking  joyfully 
the  spoiling  of  one's  goods  for  Christ,  and  of  dis- 
daining a  mere  earthly  deliverance.  It  is  just  from 
understanding  this  divine  philosophy  by  which  the 
tribulation  works — works  patience  and  experience 
— until  the  blessed  result  is  an  animated  and  tri- 
umphant Christian  hope,  brightened  by  contrast 
with  all  the  deepest  darkness.  It  is  just  by  learn- 
ing how  the  personal  weakness  becomes  an  occa- 
sion for  the  power  of  Christ  to  rest  upon  the 
soul,  and  how  the  spoiling  of  one's  earthly  goods 
and  the  lack  of  an  earthly  deliverance  may  give 
sharper  relish  for  the  enduring  substance  beyond. 
It  is  just  from  apprehending  the  divine  policy 
of  advancing  our  personal  salvation  by  all  these 
means  and  agencies  which,  to  the  sufferer,  may 
seem  hard  and  inscrutable,  but  which,  in  God's 
view,  are  the  most  effective  methods  of  working 
out  our  redemption. 


208  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

I  have  seen  the  sailor  full  of  glee  at  the  burst- 
ing of  a  storm  upon  his  vessel,  while  the  timid 
passengers  shrank  aAvay  and  shrieked  in  terror. 
He  knew  the  course  of  the  gale,  how  it  would 
drive  his  vessel  into  port,  and  how  he  had  only 
to  climb  the  mast-head,  take  in  his  canvas  to  bear 
the  storm,  and  trim  his  craft,  so  as  to  outride  the 
gale;  knowing  that  even  though  it  were  midnight, 
and  the  scene  all  dreary,  and  the  howling  tempest 
fearful  to  the  inexperienced,  he  should  find  him- 
self, at  morning,  safely  in  port,  even  though  he 
should  have  lost  a  spar  or  had  his  rigging  torn 
to  ribbons  by  the  relentless  hurricane. 

You  have  seen  it  so ;  some  of  you,  like  the  noble- 
man at  Capernaum,  have  made  your  first  acquaint- 
ance with  Jesus  at  the  illness  of  your  boy,  and  you 
have  perhaps  already  seen  that  the  dear  little  fel- 
low was  brought  to  the  point  of  death,  that  you 
might  be  brought  to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Take  that 
example  from  your  most  recent  history,  that  be- 
reavement in  your  household;  bitter  as  was  the 
cup,  stunning  as  was  the  blow,  that  very  event 
was  not  merely  the  divine  will  in  the  general,  so 
that  it  could  not  have  happened  had  not  God 
willed  it — that  is  philosophy.  But  more,  it  was 
God's  great,  wise,  tender,  loving  thought  in  Christ 
Jesus  concerning  you — this  is  Gospel. 

As  he  cared  for  you — as  he  had  eternally  planned 
for  your  salvation,  if  you  will;  as  he  knew  your 
case  and  your  present  necessity ;  as  he  marked  out  a 
course  for  you  in  life,  by  following  which,  you  may 
be  saved,  and  as  he  often  hedged  up  that  path  with 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  209 

thickets  and  thorns,  to  keep  yon  in  the  way ;  as  he 
would  not  have  you  lost;  so,  and  precisely  on  this 
account,  he  ordered  that  overwhelming  sorrow  to 
enter  your  household.  It  was  in  his  heart  simply 
to  lead  you  to  God,  breaking  you  down  at  his  feet, 
that  he  might  hear  your  cry  and  bless  you:  chas- 
tening you,  not  for  his  pleasure,  but  for  your  profit, 
that  you  might  be  partaker  of  his  holiness.  If  tliis 
be  so,  then  you  could  not  possibly  have  done  with- 
out that  sorrow. 

Then  that  lesson  was  in  your  education  for  glory ; 
and  the  omission  of  it  might  have  left  you  to  lose 
your  way  in  the  wilderness  and  fail  of  your  heav- 
enly heritage.  Then  that  particular  trial,  which 
you  called  the  bitterest  cup  of  your  life,  was  as 
truly  in  Christ's  programme  for  your  salvation  as 
was  the  agony  of  your  dying  Lord — not  occupy- 
ing any  such  place,  I  grant;  not  meriting  any  iota, 
nor  achieving  any  thing  which  could  be  achieved, 
only  by  his  vicarious  groans  and  tears  and  blood, 
but  belonging  to  the  same  scheme  as  his  sacrifice 
and  indispensably  bound  up  ^^^Lth  it  in  the  plan  for 
your  redemption. 

"Oh!"  you  say,  "if  I  could  only  so  believe!" 
But  this  belief  is  that  to  which  you  are  invited, 
that  these  trials  are  God's  gracious  cords,  drawn 
only  tighter;  as  when  one  scales  some  Alpine  sum- 
mit and  feels  the  rope  of  his  guide  almost  like  the 
rope  of  the  hangman  because  that  is  all  that  holds 
him  up  as  he  overhangs  the  abyss;  or  as  when 
from  the  wreck  of  the  steamer,  one  must  be  drawn 
through  the  flood  by  the  rope  around  him,  in  order 


210  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

to  be  saved.  I  grant  it;  it  is  no  easy  thing  so  to 
construe  every  bitterness  of  life,  as  only  an  ingre- 
dient in  God's  sacramental  cup,  but  herein  is  the 
training  for  us  under  the  Gospel.  If  we  will  re- 
ceive it,  this  is  the  will  of  God. 

"What,"  you  say,  "can  there  be  any  bright  side 
to  my  trial — the  ingratitude  of  children,  the  treach- 
ery of  bosom  friends,  the  loss  of  dear  ones  or  the 
loss  of  property?"  Yes — the  upper  side,  where 
the  sun  shines  out  on  the  dark  clouds  all  radiant 
with  love.  "Oh!"  you  say,  "if  I  can  feel  that  my 
trial  is  the  will  of  God  and,  especially,  that  it  is 
the  loving  will  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning 
me,  I  can  accept  it  and  go  on  under  the  heaviest 
load,  rejoicing  in  the  Lord  alway !  " 

Does  any  one  doubt  as  he  looks  now  upon  the 
history,  that  that  poor  paralytic,  who  was  so  help- 
less as  to  be  carried  by  four  friends  like  pall-bear- 
ers to  Jesus  for  a  cure,  had  his  paralysis  sent  upon 
him,  as  a  means  of  grace? — ;3ust  in  order  that  he 
might  be  let  down,  through  the  broken  verandah, 
into  the  presence  of  the  great  Healer,  and  might 
hear  him  say,  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee"?  Oh! 
what  an  insight  do  we  get  into  the  wondrous  com- 
binations of  providence  and  redemption,  when  he 
replies  to  all  the  questioning,  whether  is  easier  to 
say,  "Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,  or,  rise,  take  up 
thy  bed  and  walk.  But  that  ye  may  know  that 
the  Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  < 
sins,  he  saith  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy.  Rise  and 
walk ! "  And  so  also  that  ye  may  know  that  he 
hath   power   on   earth   to   heal   the   paralytic,   he 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  211 

saith,  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven."  The  providence 
is  redemptive. 

And,  second^  the  redempiion  is  providential. 

The  path  to  glory  lor  ns  sinners  lies  throngh 
this  world.  The  great  Redeemer  does  not,  at  once 
upon  our  conversion,  take  us  up  to  heaven;  but 
he  makes  us  set  our  faces  thitherward — makes  us 
aim  at  it  and  march  towards  it,  and  makes  us  de- 
scribe the  pathway  by  our  weary,  foot-sore  prog- 
ress in  a  gradual  training  and  unfolding  of  our 
new  nature  for  that  new  estate.  Our  path  lies 
through  the  wilderness  to  Canaan.  He  can  not  do 
the  marching  for  us.  We  must  march  ourselves. 
Every  dealing,  therefore,  comes  to  us  labelled  with 
our  personal  address  and  with  this  inscription: 
this  thing  and  this,  whatever  it  be,  is  "the  will  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  you." 

The  likeness  of  Jesus,  in  which  Ave  are  to  awake, 
is  to  be  chiselled  by  sharp  instruments,  and  the 
features  are  thus  to  be  delicately  wrought  out  and 
clearly  defined,  till  they  glow  with  the  very  linea- 
ments of  Divinity.  There  seems  often,  therefore, 
a  severity  in  the  dealing.  But  it  is  just  because 
the  finish  must  needs  be  exquisite  that  the  artist 
must  grave  and  carve  so  much  and  strike  so  many 
.blows. 

There  will  often  appear  to  be  a  strange  indiffer- 
ence to  your  earthly  circumstances  in  God's  deal- 
ings. But  is  it  not  according  to  truth?  Have 
you  not  often  yourself  seen  how  houses  and  lands 
and  comforts,  such  as  gold  can  purchase,  aye  and 
even  friends,  which  gold  can  not  buy,  are  noth- 


212  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

ing,  if  the  heart  be  sick — if  you  have  no  inward 
peace  ?  And  therefore  is  it  that  God  will  have  his 
dealing  reach  your  inmost  spirit  and  probe  those 
hidden  depths  and  cure  that  trouble  within.  And 
then  you  are  possessed  of  the  essential  elements 
of  happiness  and  may  feel  yourself  quite  superior 
to  the  earthly  lot.  Look  at  the  boy  who  can  be 
saved  from  the  wreck  of  that  sinking  steamer, 
only  by  a  kind  hand  thrusting  him  violently 
through  the  narrow  port-hole  to  the  outside. 

Besides,  there  is  a  training  needful  for  the  life 
beyond;  and  the  living  here  must  therefore  be 
made  to  take  hold  upon  the  life  hereafter.  And 
the  discipline  is  requisite,  just  in  proportion  as  the 
future  work  is  in  the  higher  department. 

Th-e  worker  in  iron  can  not  set  his  hand  to  work 
in  gold;  the  huge  bellows  and  hammer  and  anvil 
are  not  the  implements  of  the  goldsmith.  That 
brawny  arm  and  rough  finger  and  careless  eye 
and  sturdy  blow  are  not  the  qualifications  for  the 
fine  tracery  and  gorgeous  chasing  of  the  precious 
metal  which  is  to  glisten  on  the  bosom  of  royalty 
or  on  the  finger  of  wealth  as  a  gem  of  art.  Oh 
no  !  That  is  not  the  work  which  graves  the  very 
name  of  the  owner  and  of  the  donor  on  the  golden 
gift  and  makes  it  a  presentation  of  love. 

And  our  education  here  is  to  be  a  musical  edu- 
cation. 

It  is  the  aim  of  God's  schooling  to  instruct  us  in 
the  service  of  praise.  And  this  can  be  done,  in 
some  cases,  only  in  a  small  degree  as  yet.  Some 
are  so  complaining,  so  discordant;  they  are  so  in- 


UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS.  213 

genious  in  detecting  flaws  in  their  daily  allot- 
ments, that  they  seldom  take  up  any  anthem 
upon  their  lips.  But  others  are  full  of  song; 
they  cheer  the  most  melancholy  hours  by  some 
hymn  of  praise,  and,  at  worst,  they  are  only  strik- 
ing a  minor  key,  soothing  the  painful  moments  by 
the  plaintive  tones. 

"Some  murmur  when  their  sky  is  clear, 

And  wholly  bright  to  view, 
If  one  small  speck  of  dark  appear 

In  their  great  heaven  of  blue. 
And  some  with  thankful  love  are  filled 

If  but  one  streak  of  light, 
One  ray  of  God's  good  mercy  gild 

The  darkness  of  their  night." 

And  is  not  this  the  secret  of  a  happy  life  ?  No 
mere  chimera,  no  castles  in  the  air,  no  gay  rou- 
tine of  exhausting  excitements  and  excessive  in- 
dulgences, but  a  life  of  joy  built  upon  the  most 
solid  foundations  of  God's  Gospel  truth.  Not  only 
viewing  every  thing  as  consistent  with  God's  will, 
but  rejoicing  always  in  God's  will,  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  concerning  us.  Try  it  one  day — one  hour, 
to  be  thankful  for  every  thing  on  this  high  prin- 
ciple— for  prosperity,  not  merely  because  it  is 
sweet,  but  because  it  is  God's  will  concerning  you 
in  Christ  Jesus;  for  adversity,  not  only  because  it 
is  the  divine  will,  but  because  this  very  thing, 
whatever  it  be — disappointment,  bereavement — is 
the  divine  will  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  you. 

I  have  seen  the  highest  skill  in  engineering  gain 
the  rugged  mountain  summit  by  a  back  track — by 


214  UNIVERSAL    THANKFULNESS. 

doubling  the  road  upon  itself— just  because  the 
grade  was  too  steep  to  be  overcome  otherwise, 
and  the  chasm  too  deep  and  fearful  to  be  bridged 
over.  I  have  seen  the  same  object  accomplished 
by  tunnelling  the  ridges,  and  laying  the  track 
through  the  dark  bowels  of  the  mountain  peak; 
and  then,  oh,  if  you  are  afraid  as  you  enter  the 
tunnel — afraid  of  the  sudden  gloom  and  the  fearful 
noise  and  the  overhanging  masses — the  clatter  of 
wheels  echoed  by  the  rocky  walls — if  you  think 
you  have  gone  into  that  dreary  midnight  passage 
never  to  come  out,  then  you  may  shrink  and  sink, 
just  for  lack  of  confidence  in  him  who  laid  the 
pathway  by  that  dark  route,  as  the  very  best.  But 
maybe  you  have  gone  through  it  often  enough  to 
feel  no  shudder,  nor  shock,  but  only  laying  aside 
your  paper,  or  hushing  for  a  moment  your  conver- 
sati-on,  you  can  sit  and  sing  till  the  light  breaks 
in  at  the  farther  side. 

My  brethren  take  this  passage  from  God's  book 
of  joy,  wear  it  as  a  frontlet  between  your  eyes, 
grave  it  upon  the  palms  of  your  hands,  try  the 
sweet  experiment  of  a  universal  thankfulness — 
everywhere,  every  how,  and  always. 

"  Careful  for  nothing,  prayerful  for  every  thing, 
thankful  for  any  thing  " — "  and  the  peace  of  God 
which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall  keep  your 
hearts  and  minds  by  Christ  Jesus." 


XIII. 

FEAR    AND    FAITH. 
"What  time  I  am  afraid,  I  will  trast  in  thee." — Psalm  Ivi.  3. 

The  Psalmist,  in  the  text,  commits  himself  be- 
forehand, for  all  his  seasons  of  alarm,  to  a  uniform 
and  an  unshaken  confidence  in  God.  The  power 
of  such  a  principle  in  the  life  of  any  man  must 
needs  be  amazing. 

If  one  had  a  drug  for  all  his  pains  and  fevers  and 
flesh  wounds,  so  that  the  application  of  it  would 
always  give  him  ease  and  work  a  ready  cure,  how 
must  it  affect  his  mortal  history  1 

But  beyond  these  actual  afflictions,  fears  are 
common  to  us  all.  And  if  these  all  could  be  al- 
layed at  once  by  some  sovereign  appliance,  how 
blest  were  the  bosom  that  could  carry  in  itself  the 
wondrous  efficacious  balm !  How  immensely  any 
of  oiu'  lives  must  be  relieved  to  wipe  out,  at  once, 
from  our  emotions  the  whole  list  of  alarms  tem- 
poral and  spiritual,  secret  fears,  sudden  frights 
and  overhanging  terrors!  How  the  past  history 
of  any  one  here  must  have  been  quite  another 
thing,  if  those  brooding  apprehensions  and  dreary 
forebodings  that  have  made  up  so  much  of  our 
experience,  could  have  had  no  place ! 


216  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

Observe;  the  Gospel  message  is  not  merely  "be 
healed^''  "be  saved,''  but,  ''be  not  afraid,  it  is  I, /ear 
not''  When  you  consider  how  the  news  of  trouble 
may  be  borne  to  you  on  any  breeze,  what  a  stretch 
of  security  is  that  to  cover  with  the  promise  or 
to  embrace  in  the  description  of  a  believer.  "  He 
shall  not  be  afraid  o^  evil  tidings;  his  heart  is  fixed, 
trusting  in  the  Lord."  And  when  you  know  some- 
thing of  what  it  is  to  have  the  pestilence  stalk 
abroad  through  your  streets  or  in  your  neighbor- 
hood, smiting  the  people  with  panic,  to  hear  the 
sweet  assurance  coming  to  you  in  such  terms  as 
these — "Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  for  the  terror  by 
night  nor  for  the  arrow  that  flieth  by  day,  nor  for 
the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness,  nor  for  the 
destruction  that  wasteth  at  noonday."  This  is  such 
a  balm  as  the  world  can  not  give. 

This  language  in  the  text  is  not  that  of  a  mere 
resolve — the  result  of  some  theoretic  speculation, 
or  of  some  temporizing  policy,  or  of  some  self-suffi- 
cient impulse.  It  is  the  outbreak  of  devout  com- 
munion with  God — fresh  in  the  experience  of  ivJiat 
he  is  for  a  trust,  and  it  is  a  solemn,  personal  pledge, 
left  with  the  divine  party  as  the  fruit  of  most  sol- 
emn personal  intercourse  and  understandings. 

It  is  the  testimony  of  one  whose  common  faith 
has  grown  so  strong,  through  ordinary,  every-day 
exercise  as  to  feel  quite  prepared  for  trying  sea- 
sons. It  requires  one  to  have  trusted  in  daily 
matters  to  rally  an  adequate  trust  for  sudden  and 
severe  occasions.  The  lone  tree  that  would  bide 
the  tempest  needs  to  be  rooted  and  strengthened 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  217 

under  many  ordinary  winds.  It  is  no  solitary  act 
of  faith  that  is  requisite.     It  is  the  believing  spirit. 

Observe,  then,  why  he  seizes  upon  his  seasons 
oi  fear  that  are  to  come  again  as  they  have  nat- 
urally come  before.  It  is  not  the  feeling  of  the 
coward  sinner,  who  never  flies  to  God  but  when 
his  fright  comes  on.  It  is  not  the  cold  and  slug- 
gish plan  of  a  false  professor  who  bespeaks  God's 
attention  for  such  times  of  terror,  and  cares  not  for 
him  beside.  It  is  not  the  presumptuous  confidence 
of  a  man  who  composes  himself  in  the  general 
goodness  of  God  for  seasons  of  adversity.  It  is 
the  feeling  of  a  ripe  believer  who  has  just  come 
out  of  some  sore  alarm,  and  because  he  has  found 
God  a  very  present  help  in  trouble,  has  at  once 
huilt  an  altar  tJiere  and  called  the  place  by  that 
name  and  written  this  inscription,  like  Abraham's 
on  the  mount,  "  The  Lord  will  provide." 

You  know  something  of  what  it  is  to  have  com- 
mercial revulsion  desolate  your  business  circles, 
prostrating  your  most  established  merchants,  strik- 
ing down  your  most  trusted  dependences,  drying 
up  your  best  Avorldly  resources,  all  of  a  sudden,  it 
may  be — all  in  one  tremendous  crash. 

Consider,  then,  first  of  all,  that  this  trusting 
spirit  which  so  braces  itself  against  fear,  is  well 
suited  to  the  grounds  of  our  hope. 

We  have  learned  by  many  an  experience  to  dis- 
ci'iminate  between  objects  of  confidence.  Not  all 
persons  or  things,  alike,  can  win  our  faith.  God 
has  given  us  himself  for  our  trust — all  his  re- 
sources, all  his  attributes;  whom  no  casualty  can 


218  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

overtake,  whom  no  fortuity  can  disappoint,  whom 
no  power  can  baffle,  whom  no  demands  can  ex- 
haust. Head  over  all  things — Lord  of  lords,  God 
over  all — in  whom  all  things  consist:  he  is  our  Sa- 
viour. "Look  unto  ??2e,"  he  says,  "and  be  ye  saved, 
for  I  am  God  and  there  is  none  else  " — "  Trust  ye 
in  the  Lord  forever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is 
everlasting  strength."  No  wonder  that  one  who  so 
eminently  trusted  him  should  so  often  have  made 
it  the  chorus  of  his  songs  for  all  ages:  "Blessed  is 
the  man  that  trusteth  in  thee."  No  wonder  that 
everywhere  in  troublous  times,  God's  people  have 
sung,  in  all  languages,  and  have  even  gone  out  to 
the  battle  with  enemies,  singing — "  God  is  our  ref- 
uge and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble ; 
therefore  will  not  we  fear  though  the  earth  be 
removed." 

But  more  than  this,  God  has  given  us  a  cove- 
nant ordered  in  all  things  and  sure.  This  written 
pledge  for  whatever  may  betide  us — so  worded  as 
to  cover  all  cases  and  circumstances,  all  issues 
and  events — provides  for  adversities,  is  ordered  in 
trials,  as  well  as  in  prosperity. 

Consider,  then,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  re- 
lation here  observed  between  fear  and  trust  is  that 
in  which  vital  religion  peculiarly  appears.  For  we 
see  how  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  entertain  a  gen- 
eral trust,  apart  from  any  realities  of  its  exercise. 
It  is  easy  to  hold  the  doctrine  of  it,  apart  from  any 
of  its  operations.  A  technical,  professional  faith, 
that  is  with  many  a  church  member  like  a  mere 
theory  of  the  heavens  which  he  has  given  in  to  but 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  219 

which  concerns  him  not,  is  qnite  another  thing 
from  an  active  and  practical  trust.  Easy  enough 
is  it  to  trust  God  in  smooth  seas,  and  in  bright 
sunshine,  and  to  profess  such  trust  in  the  general ; 
but  to  put  it  in  practice  and  have  a  lively  exer- 
cise of  it,  when  tempests  come  on  and  storms  howl 
fearfully  around  you — this  is  the  substance  of  which 
that  is  the  shadow  at  most. 

This  sad  mistake  of  many  is  the  basis  of  that 
unnatural  separation  between  a  faith  for  spiritual 
things  and  a  faith  for  temporal  things.  The  Chris- 
tian that  trusts  God  for  his  soul  and  can  not  trust 
him  for  the  body,  shows  this  egregious  absurdity 
— "Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat  and  the  body 
than  raiment,"  and  the  soul  than  the  body?  If 
God  will  clothe  the  lily,  wiU  he  not  clothe  his 
people?  And  if  he  will  clothe  their  bodies,  will 
he  not  clothe  their  souls  ? 

Understand,  then,  a  light  is  for  the  darkness, 
whether  it  be  that  of  a  deep  dungeon  in  the  day- 
time, or  that  of  ordinary  night.  The  exercise  of 
trust  belongs  to  ichatever  time  of  fear.  It  is  appro- 
priate for  any  kind  of  fear,  in  any  stage  of  our 
history,  in  any  department  of  our  affairs.  And 
so,  the  only  genuine  trust  will  take  this  broad 
compass  of  the  text  and  commit  itself  for  any  sucli 
a  juncture,  anywhere,  in  any  case — "Trust  in  the 
Lord  at  all  times  ye  people."  The  times  of  fear 
are  the  very  times  for  trust,  when  our  principle- 
is  tested  and  our  religion  can  display  itself  where 
nothing  else  could  serve. 

Observe,  then,  the  importance  of  this  Christian 


220  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

principle  in  the  text  as  appears,  thirdly^  from  the 
tenor  of  Gods  dealings  with  his  people  wherein  he 
develops  their  religion. 

It  is  found  to  be  precisely  what  our  conditions 
in  life  most  chiefly  demand.  It  is  of  God's  own 
purpose  that  we  are  constantly  thrust  into  those 
difficult  positions  where  this  very  peculiar  grace 
is  called  for.  The  essence  of  a  godly  trust  seems 
to  lie  in  this  relation  wdiich  it  bears  to  fearful  cir- 
cumstances. There  is  no  room  for  trust  where  a 
man  can  see  as  he  goes.  It  is  where  he  can  not  see 
— where  the  way  is  hedged  up,  that  he  is  shut  up 
unto  the  faith.  There  he  is  called  on  to  confide  in 
what  shall  be  revealed  in  the  fact,  and  what  has 
been  already  revealed  in  the  promise.  It  is  because 
this  is  of  the  very  nature  of  Christian  trust  that 
every  Christian  finds  himself  so  often  in  just  such 
straits — where  he  is  divested  of  common  reliances 
and  sees  other  trusts  torn  one  by  one  away,  and 
sees,  too,  the  floods  of  his  affliction  rising  fast 
around  him,  so  that  it  grows  deep  and  deeper 
where  he  stands — then  he  does  so  often  cry  out, 
at  length,  as  one  dealt  with  and  disciplined  and 
dissuaded  from  any  other  trust — "Lead  me  to  the 
EocK  that  is  higher  than  7." 

Observe  now,  the  working  of  this  principle  in 
spiritual  things. 

It  is  just  where  Ave  have  abundant  grounds  of 
fear  that  we  are  challenged  to  seize  this  surpass- 
ing confidence.  It  was  just  because  he  was  afraid, 
that  the  Christian  cast  himself  into  such  arms  of 
a  divine  covenant  for  his  soul.     Therefore  Peter 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  221 

was  allowed  to  stop  out  into  the  sea  that  in  his 
rising  fear  he  might  trust.  Who  comes  in  at  the 
open  gate  of  this  city  of  refuge  but  the  affrighted 
sinner  who  flees  from  the  wrath  to  come?  "Know- 
ing therefore  the  terror  (fear)  of  the  Lord,  we  per- 
suade men." 

We  know  that  no  man  will  ever  find  occasion 
or  motive  to  trust  until  some  fears  are  aroused. 
They  who  have  indolently  taken  up  this  Chris- 
tian reliance,  with  scarce  an  emotion,  without  a 
struggle,  can  not  know,  as  yet,  how  great  is  this 
salvation.  They  have  not  grasped  their  religion 
strongly  or  earnestly  enough  to  get  the  full  advan- 
tage of  it.  Here,  then,  the  timid  Christian,  full  of 
fears  and  pressed  down  with  gloomy  apprehensions, 
may  find  out  his  common  mistake.  It  is  just  be- 
cause he  sees  so  much  to  alarm  in  God's  aveng- 
ing justice,  in  his  own  peculiar  sins  and  in  his 
sad  unfitness  for  God's  favor  and  for  heaven — it  is 
just  because  of  this,  that  he  is  called  to  trust  in 
him  who  meets  all  these  grounds  of  fear  by  his 
own  amazing  provisions !  Let  the  trembling  and 
alarmed  remember  that  only  they  who  are  some- 
how weary  and  heavy  laden  can  take  rest !  Only  a 
wounded  spirit  can  take  the  balm. 

Such  it  is  that  Christ  is  seeking — those  who 
would  seek  such  an  one  as  Christ.  To  whomso- 
ever the  Gospel  comes  as  glad  tidings,  to  him  it  is 
the  Gospel.  The  poor  man  stripped  and  bruised 
and  left  helpless  by  his  foes  on  the  road -side 
may  be  passed  by  the  Levite  and  bigot  priest 
and   scorned   by  the   crowd   because  he  is  in  so 


222  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

grievous  a  case.  But  to  such  an  one,  and  for  this 
very  reason  the  good  Samaritan  turns.  He  has 
the  oil  and  wine  for  his  wounds  and  he  has  the 
price  for  his  keeping.  Let  a  man  that  has  fears — 
fears  for  his  soul,  fears  of  his  unbelief,  fears  about 
his  acceptance,  fears  of  his  insincerity,  fears  lest 
he  has  grieved  the  Spirit,  fears  lest  he  has  com- 
mitted the  unpardonable  sin,  fears  lest  his  stub- 
born, icy  heart  may  never  melt — let  him  fly  indeed 
and  fly  from  the  wi-atli  that  is  coming,  but  let  him 
FLY  TO  Christ.  Here  is  the  rule  of  Christian  living 
— "What  time  /  am  afraid'' — afraid  that  I  shall 
yet  come  short  of  heaven,  afraid  that  Satan  will 
yet  gain  the  advantage  and  in  some  heedless  hour 
will  thrust  his  fang  into  my  heel  or  into  my  heart, 
afraid  that  Christ  will  leave  me  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
give  me  up,  afraid  that  I  shall  be  devoured  by  sav- 
age beasts  in  the  dark  valley  of  death — "What 
time  I  am  afraid^  I  will  trust  in  thee ! " 

But  observe  further,  the  very  fear  shall  suggest 
the  confidence^  and  the  working  of  this  principle 
in  temporal  things  must  be  essentially  the  same  as 
in  the  spiritual. 

Do  we  forget  that  Abraham's  faith,  for  which 
he  had  righteousness  counted  unto  him,  was  the 
faith  of  a  father  respecting  his  child  who  was  the 
son  of  promise,  when  the  heart  of  the  patriarch 
almost  bursting,  and  his  very  tears  mingling  with 
the  sacrifice,  yet  believed  and  yet  triumphed  ?  Do 
we  forget  that  the  minute,  secular  history  of  all 
the  ancient  saints  is  preserved  to  us  on  holy  rec- 
ord for  its  influence  upon  our  daily  living?     Do 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  223 

we  forget  that  even  in  our  temporal  career  and  in 
each  day's  course,  we  are  to  walk  hj  faith,  and  not 
to  walk  by  sight  ?  The  passing  views  we  take  of 
things  may  be  from  the  appearance,  as  we  may 
not  always  think  but  that  the  sun  walks  daily 
round  the  earth  as  would  seem.  But  to  make  a 
calculation  of  the  heavens  on  this  hypothesis  would 
involve  the  grossest  mistakes. 

We  see,  then,  the  common  violation  of  this  Chris- 
tian principle  of  the  text,  amongst  the  troubles  of 
real  life  —  that  amidst  their  fears  Christian  men 
will  give  themselves  up  to  their  own  sensations 
and  vain  reasonings  and  virtual^  set  aside  this 
trust!  They  will  demand  to  see  in  the  dark  else 
they  can  not  believe;  but  it  is  just  where  they  can 
not  see  that  they  are  required  to  believe. 

What  practical  ignorance  of  this  vital  princi- 
ple do  we  find  amongst  our  real  adversities !  Sad 
enough  is  it  that  they  who  stand  in  the  church  as 
Christians  and  whose  religion,  like  any  other  light, 
should  shine  brightest  in  the  dark,  show  often  so 
much  fretfalness  and  fearfulness  and  despondency, 
and  give  so  little  credit  to  a  covenant  God  in  their 
times  of  trouble  or  alarm !  Behold  what  efforts  are 
made  to  fly  from  providence,  to  effect  an  escape 
from  the  danger  and  from  the  duty  that  it  brings, 
rather  than  amidst  the  danger  to  trust !  So  Jonah 
flies.  Hard  is  it  in  the  midst  of  terrors  to  stand 
still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God :  yet  this  is  the 
perfection  of  our  confidence. 

Will  you  trust  Christ  no  further  than  you  can  see 
him  ?     Must  you  perceive  beforehand  and  all  along 


224  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

just  what  he  is  bringing  about  and  how  he  will  do 
it?  Then  you  would  Avalk  by  sight  and  not  by 
faith.  Then  you  would  strip  him  of  his  preroga- 
tive. Oh,  it  is  one  thing  to  go  your  own  way  of 
your  own  self  and  quite  another  thing  is  it  to  he  led. 
But  the  blind  man  is  led — is  willing  to  be  led — 
and  though  there  is  discomfort  in  blindness,  yet 
who  would  not  be  blindfolded  or  blinded  rather 
than  go  to  his  own  place  and  in  his  own  way  to 
perdition!  "I  will  bring  the  Uind  by  a  way  that 
they  knew  not,  I  will  lead  them  in  paths  that  they 
have  not  known,  I  will  make  darkness  light  before 
them  and  crooked  things  straight."  This  is  the 
prerogative  and  promise  of  God. 

But  bring  the  professed  believer  to  the  point  and 
the  Christian  responds  to  all  the  claim  with  the 
cheerful  confession,  ^^I  ivill  trust  in  thee.''  Let  even 
Jacob  be  actually  famishing  with  all  his  house  and 
have  Joseph's  coat  brought  home  to  him  in  blood, 
and  Benjamin  demanded  by  a  severe  lord  in  Egypt, 
and  how  naturally  he  exclaims  in  his  grief  and 
fear — "All  these  things  are  against  me!"  But 
those  things  were  for  him — only  he  could  not  see 
it.  He  sees  or  thinks  he  sees  inevitable  ruin  star- 
ing him  in  the  face.  It  is  so  imminent,  so  cer- 
tain ;  how  vain  are  human  reasonings !  The  quiet 
he  could  get  from  a  mere  fatalism  is  only  the  quiet 
of  despair.  Nothing  comforts  him,  but  every  thing 
crushes  more  and  more.  The  case  is  clearly  des- 
perate. All  that  he  sees  is  such  as  to  break  him 
down,  but  God  in  Christ  he  does  not  see.  Who 
can  dispute  the  senses,  he  says. 


FEAR    AND    FAITH,  225 

So  even  with  Abram  the  father  of  the  faithful. 
What  can  possibly  come  in  now,  between  the  up- 
lifted knife  of  Abraham  and  the  slaughter  and 
death  of  Isaac.  "  Isaac  must  now  die,  and  if  Isaac 
dies,  I  am  undone."  A  short  step  to  the  conclu- 
sion. Yet,  behold  even  noio^  only  behind  Jdm,  is 
the  very  ram  for  the  burnt-offering,  and  hovering 
over  him,  only  silent  as  yet,  is  the  eternal  word 
of  God.  Yet  how  commonly  our  fears  get  the 
mastery. 

The  den  of  lions  would  seem  certain  death  to 
Daniel.  "It  must  be  so,"  we  would  say.  "Who 
ever  escaped  from  it,  or  from  the  fiery  furnace  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  heated  seven  times?"  Yet,  give 
up  to  such  fears  and  you  may  die  of  grief  before 
even  the  reality  comes  on — ^you  may  sink  into  the 
earth,  out  of  mere  despair,  while  all  your  energy 
is  demanded  for  your  escape.  You  may  induce 
the  disease  Avhich  you  dread  by  the  very  panic  of 
mind  which  you  indulge. 

It  is  vain  to  say  "What  time  I  am  not  afraid,  I 
will  trust  in  thee."  There  is  no  virtue  in  this  if 
this  be  all,  no  reality  in  it.  It  is  a  delusion  just 
because  there  an  active  trust  has  no  place. 

And  then,  too,  we  are  mostly  comforting  our- 
selves, that  we  have  no  occasion  for  reliance  on 
God.  Many  of  us  have  a  church  faith  of  this  kind 
—  speculative,  inactive,  ready  to  deny  itself  in- 
stead of  to  endure  self-denial;  ready  to  give  way, 
the  moment  it  is  tried  in  the  fire. 

"Are  you  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  drink 
of,  saith  Christ  himself,  and  to  be  baptized  with  the 
15 


228  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with" — not  indeed  to 
plunge  from  the  Temple-top  and  trust  to  angels  as 
Satan  would  have  you  do,  but  to  go  up  on  your  own 
cross  and  even  die  by  violence,  and  trust?  Are  you 
ready  to  give  up  your  own  Isaac  and  believe  that 
God  can  even  raise  him  up  if  he  will,  to  make 
his  promise  good.  And  finally,  when  things  have 
even  turned  out  most  adversely  as  it  would  seem, 
are  you  able  to  believe  that  yet — yet — all  can 
eventuate  well  and  will  eventuate  in  the  best  man- 
ner under  God?  Mary,  Martha,  can  you  believe 
not  only  that  if  Christ  had  been  here  your  brother 
had  not  died  but  even  now,  at  this  late  hour,  with 
Lazarus  four  days  in  the  grave,  your  brother  shall 
rise  again  and  rise  noiv  if  he  gives  the  word — rise 
in  some  other  form — in  some  friend  and  helper 
if  not  in  person.  Can  you  trust,  my  hearer,  even 
while  God  seems  plainly  in  an  attitude  to  slay  you ; 
nay,  after  he  has  slain  all  your  earthly  hopes  ? 

Here  is  the  difficulty.  The  things  which  dis- 
courage you  are  seen.  The  things  Avhich  should 
encourage  you  are  unseen.  Your  fears  seem  to 
you  all  opposite  to  these  hopes.  But  the  time  of 
fear  is  the  time  for  trust.  In  the  heat  of  that 
very  struggle,  believe !  Then,  when  any  unbeliever 
would  despair — when,  in  an  inner  prison,  your  feet 
are  fast  in  the  stocks  and  it  is  midnight,  and  the 
jailor  is  at  the  door,  and  soldiers  are  chained  fast 
to  you  on  either  side — tJten  if  you  can  sing  praises 
unto  God,  this  is  triLst,  worthy  a  Christian  believer. 
It  shall  be  counted  to  you  for  righteousness,  be- 
cause it  is  such  a  trust  as  lavs  hold  on  Christ  for 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  227 

the  soul's  salvation.  It  is  of  the  same  essence  as 
the  saving  faith. 

To  most,  the  practical  absurdity  will  seem  to  be 
that  such  a  trust  for  such  stern  realities  is  like 
living  on  an  idea!  That  it  is  nothing  but  doc- 
trine attempting  to  console  a  man  in  the  very 
strife  of  adversity.  But  it  is  not  living  on  faith 
as  you  think.  It  is  living  hy  faith  and  living  on 
Jesus  Christ.  You  say  there  is  nothing  to  rest  on! 
Nothing  of  sense,  I  know,  but  what  does  the  globe 
rest  on?  It  is  hung  out  by  God's  power  in  the  air 
and  kept  in  its  accurate  orbit  by  the  infinite  con- 
sistencies of  that  power.  It  is  founded  on  the 
seas  and  established  on  the  flood.  In  the  sea  of 
your  fears  and  your  trials,  walk  on  the  troubled 
waters  at  the  bidding  of  your  Lord. 

There  is  something  of  this  confidence  in  society, 
where  often  you  must  have  an  ultimate  trust  in 
fellow-men  back  of  all  that  appears.  This  is  a 
confidence  in  character  or  in  power,  or  both!  Is 
it  much  to  trust  God  thus  far,  or  on  this  principle 
to  the  very  farthest — his  character  is  glorious,  his 
power  is  infinite.  You  must  trust  a  fellow-man 
out  of  your  sight,  often  farther  than  you  can  see 
him.  Your  ultimate  reliance  is  on  his  established 
and  unwavering  truth  and  honesty  and  ability. 
Can  you  not  so  accredit  God,  though  he  be  in  the 
heavens,  the  better  for  his  being  so  exalted,  where 
you  know  of  his  power  all  around  you  and  in  you 
and  dare  not  doubt  his  word  ? 

Come  now,  my  hearer,  to  some  dreadful  trial  and 
see  how  you  can  trust.     Let  your  hopes  all  be  dis- 


228  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

appointed  and  let  every  thing  look  dark  and  blank 
as  midnight  or  the  grave.  Let  your  earthly  re- 
sources all  fail!  Your  throbbing  heart  begins  to 
shrink  and  despair.  All  these  things  are  against 
you.  Your  trust  seems  but  as  a  feather  on  the 
tide  amidst  this  tempestuous  and  boiling  sea.  Be- 
hold, now,  at  length  some  monster  of  the  deep  is 
ready  to  swallow  you  up !  Can  you  go  into  his 
jaws  trusting  in  God  ?  You  ask  a  sign  from 
heaven?  There  shall  no  sign  be  given  you  but 
the  sign  of  Jonas  the  prophet. 

You  have  examples,  you  have  the  assurances 
beforehand;  the  word  that  Christ  hath  spoken  is 
your  hope.  You  would  not  think  so  far  as  to  con- 
ceive the  "wondrous  way  of  escape  in  every  case, 
but  let  God  have  his  own  way  and  trust  thou  in 
him !  He  prepared  the  monster  to  swalloiv,  with- 
out devouring.  He  can  prepare  agents  and  results 
so  that  the  very  monster  that  seemed  to  have 
eaten  you  up  shall  prove  to  have  only  taken  you 
in  safe-keeping,  to  land  you  in  due  time  on  the 
shore !  A  miracle  of  mercy !  Trust  God  outside 
of  all  that  appears — beyond  your  fears,  beyond 
your  severest  straits,  beyond  death  and  the  grave. 
Hope  in  him,  against  hope;  and  in  the  midst  of 
your  crushing  trials,  and  after  your  losses  are  even 
realized  and  your  worst  fears  are  proved  less  than 
the  desolating  reality,  stand  up  and  say,  "  Though 
I  walk  in  the  midst  of  trouble,  thou  wilt  revive  me, 
thou  shalt  stretch  forth  thine  hand  upon  the  wrath 
of  mine  enemies  and  thy  right  hand  shall  save 
me." 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  229 

This,  I  confess,  goes  a  great  step  beyond  any 
common  confidence  among  men.  Here  it  defies  a 
parallel  in  human  society.  Among  men  you  will 
trust  so  long  as  there  can  be  hope  that  what  you 
fear  will  not  come  to  pass !  But  when  the  worst 
that  you  dreaded  is  realized,  how  shall  you  trust 
in  one  whose  hand  is  actually  striking  you  down  ? 
"Trust  in  him  at  all  times,  ye  people,  pour  out 
your  hearts  before  him;  God  is  a  refuge  for  us; 
though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him;  be- 
hold the  fowls  of  the  air;  consider  the  lilies."  "Who 
would  say  beforehand  that  the  fowls  could  have 
their  daily  meals  without  storehouse  or  barn,  with- 
out work  or  wages;  or  that  the  lilies  could  have 
raiment  more  splendid  than  Solomon's  without  care 
or  cost.  Nay,  who  would  say  that  a  man  could 
actually  have  his  food  carried  to  him  by  ravens. 
Yet  interpositions  as  marvellous  as  this  have  oc- 
curred, perhaps  in  our  own  knowledge — if  not  in 
our  own  history.  "Because  he  hath  inclined  his 
ear  unto  me,  therefore  will  I  call  upon  him  as 
long  as  I  live." 

Even  Job,  far  back  in  the  midst  of  patriarch 
times,  had  such  an  every-day  trust.  God  answered 
him  out  of  the  whirlwind  in  tones  as  sweet  as  an- 
gels use.  It  was  no  mere  theory — nothing  dead, 
but  living.  There  was  a  time  for  his  trust  when 
a  whole  procession  of  calamities  had  come  apace 
and  the  bewildering  news  flashed  like  successive 
bolts  of  lightning  upon  him.  Assassins  slew  his 
servants,  the  conflagration  consumed  his  flocks, 
robbers  stole  his  camels,  and  a  hurricane   swept 


230  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

away  his  sons  amidst  the  ruins  of  their  house. 
And  this  patriarch,  with  his  dim  and  narrow  rev- 
elations of  God  and  tempted  by  Satan  and  the 
world  in  that  doleful  hour  when  all  was  gone, 
when  his  earthly  hopes  were  so  successively  and 
swiftly  blasted,  still  sings  in  calmest  confidence 
— "The  Lord  gave  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away: 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

Ye  men  of  Galilee  who  have  boasted  your  faith 
on  the  shore,  come  out  now  upon  the  Sea  of  Gal- 
ilee in  the  vessel;  Christ  is  embarked  with  you,  or 
he  walks  out  on  the  boiling  billows  at  the  fourth 
watch  of  the  night  to  look  after  you.  And  now 
you  are  thinking  him  asleep  or  you  are  imagining 
his  heavenly  form  as  it  approaches  to  be  some  ap- 
parition haunting  your  darksome  way;  you  are 
crying  out  in  the  gale  as  though  he  who  comes 
to  save  you  were  some  spirit  of  the  storm,  as 
though  you  had  no  Saviour,  or  as  though  he  had 
not  control  of  the  elements  which  threaten  to  en- 
gulf your  all,  or  as  though  he  had  turned  to  be  a 
destroyer;  or  you  fear  your  common  ground  of 
trusting  will  not  stand  you  in  this  present  case; 
and  this  shameful  timidity  is  just  what  he  rebukes, 
just  what  he  wonders  at,  as  he  knows  his  infinite 
resources  for  your  help.  "  Why  are  ye  so  fearful, 
Oye  of  little  faith." 

You  think  that  the  managing  of  your  vessel  is 
so  much  a  mere  mechanical  matter  that  it  is  too 
purely  a  business  concern  for  God  Almighty  to 
deal  with,  that  it  is  just  a  thing  of  the  helm,  or 
that  this  surviving  a  financial  storm  is  merely  a 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  231 

business  of  notes  and  banks  and  mercantile  sagac- 
ity; just  a  matter  between  man  and  man,  too  secu- 
lar for  Jesus  Christ  to  concern  himself  with.  But 
did  not  this  same  Saviour  think  it  worth  working 
a  miracle  to  enable  Peter  to  pay  his  taxes — aye,  to 
pay  his  own  tax — rather  than  that  his  children  or 
his  cause  should  suffer  discredit  ?  And  if  he  could 
make  a  fish  come  up  to  the  apostle's  hook,  bearing 
the  very  coin  that  was  needed,  what  bankers  can 
he  not  command,  how  can  his  agencies  ever  fail, 
when  can  his  deposits  be  exhausted,  when  shall 
his  trusting  servants  be  deserted  by  him  ? 

The  believer  who  comes  upon  his  trying  times — 
his  times  of  temptation  or  apprehension  or  afflic- 
tion or  dissolution — remembers  that  these  seasons 
are  just  those  which  his  common  every-day  piety 
was  all  along  girding  itself  for,  that  these  severe 
conflicts  are  just  what  he  was  always  given  to  ex- 
pect, that  his  ordinary  faith  in  fair  weather  was 
always  strengthening  to  outride  the  tempest  when 
it  should  come  on,  that  it  was  training  itself  to 
grapple  with  the  tempter  and  the  monster  when 
they  should  rise  to  do  their  worst,  and  so  he  is 
the  overcomer  at  last,  just  by  being  a  habitual 
daily  overcomer. 

What  shall  they  do  who  are  thinking  it  will  be 
enough  to  talk  of  faith  when  the  time  of  fear  has 
come?  If  the  dying  thief  had  a  stronger  faith 
than  was  almost  ever  known,  I  assure  you  there 
was  tieed  of  it — ^to  have  had  its  first  exercise  in  the 
very  struggle  and  agony  of  death — faith  at  such  a 
crisis,  for  the  first,  is  rather  a  miraculous  grace,  a 


'232  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

rare  specimen  just  to  illustrate  in  the  brightest  way 
that  stupendous  occasion  on  Calvary. 

Trust  not  to  such  an  hour.  Your  death-bed  is 
not  calm,  when  all  your  life  of  sin  comes  up  against 
you,  staring  you  in  the  face ;  when  all  your  lifelong 
rejection  of  Christ  is  rising  up  to  forbid  your  hope 
at  the  last  hour;  when  your  very  inbred  habits  of 
unbelief  seem  not  to  allow  of  a  calm  confidence 
on  such  a  sudden  —  at  that  outermost  verge  of 
life  when  the  sinking  spirits  refuse  to  trust;  when 
your  own  conscience  within  is  full  of  accusations; 
when  even  the  fever  or  the  stupor  of  your  disease 
shall  be  against  any  such  act  of  the  heart  as  de- 
mands a  most  collected,  well  advised,  deliberate 
and  strong  application  of  all  the  energies ;  to  trust, 
then,  for  the  first  "  when  the  fear  cometh  as  deso- 
lation and  the  destruction  cometh  as  a  whirlwind, 
when  distress  and  anguish  come  upon  you,"  would 
seem  against  all  the  laws  of  your  being.  It  shall 
not  be  because  God  refuses  to  be  gracious.  Oh, 
no!  It  shall  be  rather  because  an  affrighted,  be- 
wildered, sinking,  perishing  soul  can  not  easily 
trust  then  for  the  first. 

Behold,  then,  the  high  attainment  of  piety  is 
here.  "They  that  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  as 
Mount  Zion  which  can  not  be  moved."  The  Chris- 
tian that  has  trusted  Christ,  in  view  of  the  last  and 
worst  of  Satan's  accusations — of  death's  struggles 
and  of  the  dreadful  bar  itself — looks  forward  to 
the  dying  point  and  shouts  beforehand,  "  Yea, 
though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me." 


FEAR    AND    FAITH.  233 

They  who  trust  in  frames  and  experiences  rather 
than  in  the  simple  word  of  grace  shall  always  have 
fears  beyond  any  reach.  Unless  there  is  a  hope  for 
us  as  worthless  sinners,  we  have  no  satisfying  and 
sure  consolation.  Unless  there  is  a  ground  of  hope 
without  us  and  above  us  we  can  find  no  firm 
foundation. 

The  Christian's  fears  drive  him  always  to  the 
same  shelter  and  refuge.  What  new  terror  in 
death  shall  frighten  him  away  from  Christ?  "I 
am  persuaded  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  an- 
gels, nor  principalities  nor  powers,  nor  things  pres- 
ent, nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus, 
our  Lord." 

In  many  a  fearful  time,  when  providence  has 
been  all  dark  and  actually  adverse,  the  believer 
has  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  trouble  and  thought 
of  God's  goodness  covenanted  to  him,  and  of  God's 
wisdom  pledged  to  arrange  for  him;  he  ventures 
to  believe  against  all  present  aj^pearances^  he  dares 
think,  amidst  all  that  is  inscrutable  now,  that  there 
is  a  good  reason  with  God  for  every  grief  or  fear  he 
suffers  or  shall  suffer,  and  he  is  at  peace.  In  his 
terrors  he  trusts,  and  this  is  the  power  of  his  confi- 
dence. What  other  trust  can  serve  him?  What 
sliall  the  habitual  unbeliever  do  in  that  extremity 
unpractised  to  any  such  reliance?  To  whom  shall 
he  go?     Whither  shall  he  seek  for  refuge? 

You  know  not,  my  hearer,  how  hard  it  is  to  put 
away  all  natural  impressions  and  in  the  darkest 


234  FEAR    AND    FAITH. 

hour  to  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  whom  you  never 
would  see  in  your  brightest  days — when  you  find 
that  you  have  been  all  your  life  long  spinning 
for  yourself,  and  out  of  your  own  bosom,  a  death 
shroud,  soft  and  silken  it  may  be,  like  the  silk- 
worm's, but,  like  its  cocoon,  a  coffin.  Tell  the 
drowning  man,  who  has  never  balanced  himself 
in  the  waters,  to  do  it  now,  when  he  is  swept 
from  the  wreck  into  the  boiling  ocean,  amidst  his 
terrors  and  alarms;  preach  to  him  the  whole  the- 
ory, as  you  believe.  Tell  him  to  cease  his  striv- 
ings, to  compose  himself  and  lie  down  on  the 
bosom  of  the  flood,  and  set .  his  face  steadfastly 
towards  heaven  and  float  upon  the  wave.  Can 
he  do  it  ?  Oh,  no  I  He  will  likely  enough  cry 
out  in  his  alarm  and  strangle  in  the  act.  He  will 
struggle  and  go  down  in  the  attempt.  He  can  not 
trust  now  for  the  first  amidst  such  swelling  bil- 
lows and  such  desolating  fears. 

Practice  in  your  calmest  times  this  heavenly  art 
of  trusting  Christ,  the  great  Kedeemer,  and  then 
you  can  say,  "  What  time  I  am  a/raid,  instead  of 
desponding,  shrinking,  fretting,  despairing,  I  will 
sweetly  compose  my  soul  in  God,  and,  casting  my 
all  on  the  bosom  of  thy  covenant,  /  will  trust  in 
thee" 


XIV. 

NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION   EXCEPT   BY   PER- 
SONAL SANCTIFICATION. 

"Peter  saith  unto  him  :  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet!  Jesus 
answered  him  :  If  I  wash  thee  not  thou  hast  no  part  with  me. 
Simon  Peter  saith  unto  him  :  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my 
hands  and  my  head." — John  xiii.  8-9. 

Our  blessed  Lord  had  come,  with  the  twelve,  to 
sit  down  at  the  Last  Paschal  Supper,  which  was  to 
introduce  his  betrayal  and  death.  What  does  he 
say  and  do,  that  best  belits  such  an  occasion  ?  He 
speaks  a  parable  in  the  act.  Condescending  love 
could  find  no  earthly  picture  wherewith  to  express 
itself,  for  there  was  never  an  instance  like  this. 
He  rises  from  the  table,  before  proceeding  with 
the  feast,  comes  to  his  disciples,  one  by  one  — 
comes  girt  with  a  towel,  in  the  garb  of  a  servant, 
and  proposes  to  wash  their  feet.  You  know  the 
sequel.  Oiu:  Lord  came  to  Simon  Peter.  This  im- 
petuous and  noble  apostle  declined  the  service  as 
a  thing  quite  too  humiliating  for  his  Master  to  do 
— too  humiliating  for  him  to  accept  from  his  Lord. 
Jesus  insisted,  and  even  made  it  a  condition  of  his 
saving  grace,  that  this  very  thing  here  proposed, 
and  whatsoever  he  proposed  for  any  of  his  people, 
should  be  accepted  at  his  hands.     This  brings  Pe- 


236        NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

ter  to  terms.  He  could  hold  out  no  longer.  He 
sees  it  in  a  new  light.  It  is  no  mere  courtesy, 
no  mere  formality,  it  is  absolute  necessity  and  he 
yields  most  cordially,  most  fully,  in  the  language 
of  our  text — "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my 
hands  and  my  head." 

View  the  picture,  my  brethren.  It  is  a  scene  for 
us  all  to  contemplate.  There  are  lessons  for  us  all 
to  learn.  Jesus  has  a  plan  for  the  thorough  cleans- 
ing of  each  disciple.  He  proposes  for  each  of  us, 
in  all  the  minutiae  of  life,  his  divers  methods  for 
our  most  entire  personal  sanctification.  By  vari- 
ous means  of  grace  and  various  dealings  of  prov- 
idence, he  comes  round  to  each  and  urges  upon  us 
his  cleansing  processes.  We  are  often  inclined  to 
take  exception  here  and  there  to  this  and  that,  but 
we  have  no  right  to  object  to  any  thing  he  pro- 
poses for  us.  He  insists  upon  each  item  as  indis- 
pensable to  our  salvation,  and  what  he  will  bring 
each  of  us  to,  if  We  are  saved,  is  just  this  whole- 
hearted concurrence  with  him  in  his  whole  scheme 
and  system  of  grace;  so  that  we  shall  earnestly 
pray — "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands 
and  my  head." 

Look  now  at  the  infinite  condescension  of  Jesus 
in  this  work  of  our  sanctification.  To  rescue  us 
from  the  bondage  of  sin,  the  first  step  he  takes  is 
that  wonderful  leap,  just  at  one  bound,  from  the 
highest  heaven  to  the  lowest  condition  of  earth. 
"He  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and 
was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men."  "And  being 
found  in  fashion  as  a  man,"  he  took  the  most  ab- 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  237 

ject  state  of  our  liumanity.  "He  humbled  him- 
self" below  all  ordinary  condition  of  humankind 
and  "  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death 
of  the  cross."  And  when  you  say,  that  this  was 
to  save  men  from  hell,  do  you  not  understand  that 
there  is  no  j^ossibilify  of  personal  salvation  except 
hy  personal  sanctification?  Nay,  that  salvation  it- 
self, properly  understood,  is  just  this  sanctifica- 
tion itself  That  therefore,  you  are  in  the  Avay 
of  being  saved,  only  as  you  are  in  the  way  of 
being  sanctified;  and  that  hence  all  the  questions 
about  election,  predestination  and  personal  salva- 
tion do,  in  their  practical  aspect,  turn  upon  this  liv- 
ing question,  of  personal  sanctification;  and  that 
so  God's  eternal  decrees  of  salvation,  are  really 
indicated  and  brought  to  light  by  our  habitual 
actions,  and  that  he  is  plainly  an  elect  man,  and 
only  he,  who  elects  Christ  for  his  Saviour  and  who 
has  thus  the  mark  of  sanctification  on  the  forehead 
of  his  daily  living. 

And  so  it  is  that  this  profound  doctrine,  which 
so  many  stumble  at,  is  everywhere  presented  in 
the  Scriptures,  in  its  living,  practical  connections. 
This  very  Peter  says,  in  his  epistle,  after  he  has 
here  been  made  to  understand  the  doctrine  well, 
"  Elect,  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the 
Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto 
obedience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Christ." 
Not  elect  unto  eternal  life,  do  what  you  will.  No ! 
elect  unto  obedience.  Ah!  this  is  the  brand  by 
which  the  Good  Shepherd  marks  his  sheep,  with 
a  monogram  of  both  initials  in  one — "  My  sheep 


238        NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

hear  my  voice,  I  knoAv  them  and  they  follow  me," 
and  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  they  shall  never  per- 
ish. So  you  may  know  them  from  all  others.  So 
said  Paul,  "  I  bear  in  my  body,  the  marks  of  the 
Lord  Jesus." 

Look  now  at  this  condescending  kindness  of 
our  Lord,  in  pressing  upon  you  his  work  of  sanc- 
tification.  When  he  comes  to  you,  and  you  are 
found  so  reluctant  to  accept  his  method,  see  him 
still  following  you  up  in  life,  plying  you  with 
every  new  motive  5  visiting  you  with  tender  warn- 
ings, earnest  reproofs  and  rebukes  of  his  provi- 
dence; hedging  you  in  so  from  your  cherished  sins, 
begging  and  entreating  you  to  accept  his  grace  of 
cleansing  in  all  particulars  of  daily  life.  This  is 
his  menial  attitude,  girt  with  a  towel  and  pouring 
water  into  the  bason  and  coming  to  you  with  the 
entreaty  that  you  would  allow  him  to  wash  your 
feet. 

But  as  regards  the  methods.  They  seem  to  us 
arbitrary  often,  and  unnecessary,  and  we  demur. 

Look  here  at  the  significance  of  this  transaction, 
the  water-washing — true  it  is,  at  most,  a  sign  of 
something  greater  and  better  that  is  signified.  Is 
the  sign  then  so  necessary?  So  you  say  of  the 
sacraments:  "May  you  not  be  a  Christian,  and  yet 
not  be  baptized  or  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ? " 
But  Jesus  says,  "  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no 
part  with  me."  If  you  set  up  your  own  opinion 
and  feeling  in  regard  to  tliis  Avater-washing,  you 
do,  in  effect,  repudiate  the  whole  scheme  of  grace 
and  claim  to  accept  or  reject  as  you  think  fit.     No! 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  239 

If  yow  accept  not  this  very  thing,  which  I  here 
propose  in  the  sign,  you  do,  in  effect,  repudiate  the 
tiling  signified.  We  can  not  be  saved  by  a  mere 
creed  or  profession  of  reUgion,  any  more  than  we 
can  be  warmed  by  the  picture  of  a  fire. 

But  let  us  look  further  at  the  significance  of  this 
action.  I  say  to  you,  all  and  each  of  you,  Christ 
has  a  plan  for  your  personal  cleansing,  complete  in 
all  its  details.  You  can  not  afford  to  reject  it  in 
any  minute  particular.  It  is  not  for  you  to  pro- 
nounce any  thing  trivial  or  unnecessary  in  his  plan 
for  you.  He  knows  what  you  need  and  wherein 
you  lack,  and  he  comes  to  you — Peter,  James,  or 
John  —  comes  with  his  own  chosen  methods  of 
cleansing — "Then  cometh  he  to  Simon  Peter" — 
and  then  he  comes  in  his  round  of  the  ages  to  you, 
my  brethren,  and  he  begins  with  each  here,  at  the 
feet.  And  this  is  daily  needfal  and  indispensable, 
though  you  may  have  been  regenerated  at  heart. 
Here  he  comes  in  this  symbolical  transaction.  He 
has  himself  explained  it.  He  says,  "He  that  is 
washed  or  bathed,  needeth  not  save  to  Avash  his 
feet."  So  the  man  who  is  regenerated  needs  yet 
to  have  his  daily  corruptions  washed  away  by 
daily  processes  of  sanctification.  The  man  who 
deems  the  gracious  work  accomplished  for  him- 
self, at  the  outset,  by  the  regenerating  act,  and  has 
not  waked  up  to  consider  how  he  needs  this  same 
cleansing  efficacy  reapplied  from  day  to  day,  he 
must  be  aroused  from  his  terrible  mistake  or  he 
is  lost! 

Are  you  considering  it  enough  to  be  a  Chris- 


240        NO    PERSONAL   SALVATION    EXCEPT 

tian  in  the  general  and  not  in  the  particular,  or 
to  have  been  a  Christian  once,  if  not  now  ?  or  are 
you  claiming  that  this  Christianity  shall  not  come 
down  to  the  minutiee  of  your  life  and  control  your 
habits,  in  the  smallest  items,  and  regulate  all  your 
intercourse  and  sway  all  your  tempers  and  your 
speech  and  restrict  your  indulgences  and  set  up 
its  throne  in  your  Avhole  living,  so  as  that  every 
thought  shall  be  brought  into  captivity  to  the  obe- 
dience of  Christ?  Then,  there  is  your  fatal  mis- 
take. There  is  where  you  have  failed  to  be  a  pro- 
nounced and  recognized  Christian,  because  you 
have  not  carried  your  religion  into  the  minor  de- 
tails of  life.  You  have  thought  it  beneath  the 
Master  to  come  down  to  so  common  and  menial  a 
business  as  to  wash  your  feet.  And  just  because 
you  do  not  think  it  worth  your  vvdiile  to  act  upon 
Christian  principle  in  such  common  every-day  mat- 
ters, no  man  can  see  where  you  are  acting  on 
Christian  principle  at  all.  You  say  this  or  that 
indulgence,  this  or  that  prevarication  or  overreach- 
ing is  innocent,  and  Jesus  does  not  concern  himself 
w^ith  such  trivial  things.  "  I  can  do  this  or  that, 
go  hither  or  thither,  as  I  please."  And  so  you  say, 
at  the  first  blush  of  the  subject,  "Thou  shalt  never 
wash  my  feet." 

But  these  defilements  that  are  contracted  in  the 
common  paths  of  life,  this  whole  question  of  what 
you  say  and  do,  and  whither  you  go,  and  into 
what  dust  and  dirt  of  the  street  you  wilfully  tread, 
is  a  question  of  prodigious  moment.  It  involves 
your  business  enterprises  and  dealings,  your  asso- 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  241 

ciations  in  life,  your  private  habits  and  social  prac- 
tices— all  yonr  coin-se  and  intercourse.  Alas !  for 
the  daily  misadventures  of  men,  Avhom  we  must 
regard  as  true  Christians.  Here  is  the  great  prac- 
tical work  for  the  church  membership,  Avhich  Jesus 
sees  most  needful  to  be  done — this  personal  sanc- 
tification  and  correction,  in  view  of  these  indiscre- 
tions and  inconsistencies  and  iniquities  of  good 
men  —  their  evil  speech,  evil  example,  divers  de- 
nials and  betrayals  of  the  Master;  their  wrong-do- 
ings in  business,  in  the  family,  in  society,  in  the 
church.  We  need  even  at  our  communion  table 
to  have  Jesus  come  round  with  towel  and  bason 
and  wash  the  feet,  even  of  the  chief  disciple. 

You  object  to  your  religion  coming  down  to  all 
this  detail;  you  say,  "This  or  that  is  not  sinful, 
good  men  do  it;  to  be  so  rigorous  is  excessive: 
Christ  does  not  concern  himself  with  such  small 
matters."  But  this  is  just  where  he  insists,  and 
will  take  no  denial.  It  is  to  wash  your  feet.  You 
say  tliat  to  carry  religion  into  all  these  particu- 
lars of  your  common  walk  is  carrying  it  quite  too 
far,  and  virtually  you  protest,  "Thou  shalt  never 
wash  my  feet.  You  may  wash  others'  feet,  but 
not  mine."  And  well  and  truly  does  the  Saviour 
reply,  "If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part 
with  me." 

I  venture  to  say  that  no  man  can  get  to  heaven 
whose  Christian  course  does  not  often  propose  to 
him  some  self-denial  for  the  example's  sake.  Grant 
that  this  thing  or  that  thing  may  be  abstractly  in- 
nocent— innocent  in  itself.  But  is  it  relatively  in- 
16 


242         NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

nocent?  Is  it  such  a  thing  as  you,  a  Christian 
man,  can  safely  hold  up  and  commend  as  an  ex- 
ample to  all  others?  Has  not  your  religion  gone 
so  far  as  to  restrict  your  feet,  your  going  hither 
and  thither,  or  to  prompt  your  avoiding  this  or 
that,  on  account  of  the  example?  Can  any  Chris- 
tian man,  in  this  wicked  world,  surrounded  by  oth- 
ers who  are  watcliing  him  and  pleading  him  as  a 
pattern  in  questionable  matters,  claim  to  act  inde- 
pendently, on  his  own  view  of  what  is  lawful  for 
himself,  and  regardless  of  the  influence  he  may 
exert  upon  others  ?  AVhat  a  monstrous  mistake ! 
Can  any  man  allow  himself  to  go  hither  or  thither, 
to  do  this  or  that,  on  the  presumption  that  he  will 
not  be  seen  and  that  hence  his  example  will  be 
out  of  the  question?  What  a  delusion!  A  man 
may  escape  observation  where  he  goes  to  do  good, 
but  he  can  not  escape  notice  where  he  goes  to  do 
evil. 

And  then  this  question  of  foot-washing,  the 
cleansing  of  the  feet  Avhich  Jesus  proposes  for 
each  of  us,  lies  mainly  just  here,  here  amidst  this 
whole  circle  of  things  which  men  call  indifferent 
and  Avhich  some  claim  to  regard  as  outside  of  the 
sphere  of  this  religion.  And  the  Christian,  who 
is  not  watchful  of  his  path,  Avho  does  not  admit 
Christ  to  do  this  work  of  divine  cleansing  upon 
his  daih^  goings,  Avho  is  not  heedful  of  the  defile- 
ments which  are  daily  contracted  b}^  the  way,  who 
is  not  jealous  of  his  Avalk  and  anxious  about  it,  to 
have  it  perfectly  immaculate  and  to  have  all  his 
living,  even  in  smallest  particulars,  sanctified;  he 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  2^6 

has  not  yet  waked  up  to  the  higher  ideas  of  the 
Christian  hfe. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  second  main  point  of 
our  text.  There  is  a  higher  style  of  Christian  hv- 
ing  tiian  most  in  the  church  are  found  to  adopt. 
Jesus  comes  with  towel  and  water,  to  each  of  us, 
to  do  this  further  needful  work  of  additional  puri- 
fication. What  say  you  my  brethren?  Do  you 
admit  tlie  necessity?  or  do  you  take  exception  and 
object  and  wilfully  protest,  where  the  way  is  dis- 
tressing or  inconvenient?  Do  you  pretend  that  it 
is  an  indignity  for  Jesus  to  concern  himself  with 
these  small  matters  of  yours?  But  the  principle 
he  lays  down  here  is  that  nothing  whatever  which 
he  proposes  can  be  trivial  or  indifferent  to  you — 
nothing  which  he  has  prescribed,  nothing  in  the 
whole  sphere  of  personal  dealing,  however  mi- 
nute, can  be  refused  by  you  if  you  would  be  saved. 
And  tliere  is  a  point  where  every  true  Christian  is 
brought  up  upon  this  higher  platform,  and  abjm- 
ing  all  such  laxity  as  he  had  entertained  is  led  to 
say,  "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands 
and  my  head." 

The  idea  here  involved  is,  that  our  daily  defile- 
ments, contracted  in  our  Avorldly  intercourse,  need 
to  be  daily  cleansed  by  these  processes  of  grace. 
If  you  have  overlooked  this,  you  have  omitted  a 
large  item  in  the  plan  of  salvation.  This  whole 
business  of  foot-washing  concerns  our  habits  of 
piety  and  our  progress  in  the  divine  life.  Just  as 
the  Jew  could  not  eat  his  meal  without  his  cere- 
monial ablutions,  so  every  Christian  is  under  daily 


244        NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

necessity  of  the  divine  cleansing.  Just  as  the  bath- 
er, coming  out  of  the  surf,  needs  to  have  the  sand 
washed  from  his  feet,  for  his  entire  cleansing,  so 
there  is  this  daily  supplementary  work  to  be  done 
upon  the  best  Christian  living. 

Have  you  waked  up  to  this,  my  brother?  Do 
you  see  Jesus  stooping  in  such  infinite  condescen- 
sion, asking  to  wash  your  feet?  Then  your  daily 
prayer  is,  for  more  entire  conformity  to  the  divine 
image  and  will,  for  a  holier  course  of  living,  for  a 
more  strict  and  exemplary  and  unimpeachable  walk 
in  life,  for  a  more  thorough  avoidance  of  even  ques- 
tionable wrong,  that  your  feet  may  tread,  at  every 
step,  the  shining  path  to  heaven,  and  that  they 
may  not  go  where  the  Avay  is  slippery  and  where 
the  road  is  anywise  connected  with  the  downward 
track  to  destruction. 

There  are  errands  of  love  and  mercy  enough  for 
the  feet  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  it  is  part  of 
the  Christian  armor  to  have  "your  feet  shod  with 
the  preparation  of  the  Gospel  of  peace."  "Blessed 
is  the  man  who  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the 
ungodly  " — does  not  adopt  their  maxims,  nor  take 
their  advice — "nor  staudeth  in  the  way  of  sinners" 
— is  not  found  in  their  association  or  connection — 
"  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful " — does  not 
consort  or  company  with  them  in  their  pursuits — 
"But  his  dehght  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord:  he  shall 
be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water:  what- 
soever he  doeth  shall  prosper."  Come  up,  then, 
my  brethren,  to  this  higher  Christian  platform,  to 
covet  this  daily  sanctifying  process,  to  put  aside 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  245 

all  exceptions  and  reserves  that  sliall  debar  the 
thorough  and  perfect  working  of  Christ's  plan  for 
your  cleansing,  to  consider  the  path  of  your  feet 
and  have  all  your  goings  established,  and  to  in- 
voke, in  your  daily  prayer,  this  gracious  work  of 
Christ  upon  your  daily  walk.  "  Lead  nie  not  into 
temptation,  but  deliver  me  from  evil."  Let  him 
wash  3^our  feet.     If  not,  you  perish ! 

But  the  true  disciple  is  brought,  like  Peter,  to  a 
larger  comprehension  of  Christ's  plan  for  his  salva- 
tion. It  is  not  merely  a  salvation  at  last  that  he  is 
led  to  crave — as  many  pray  "save  us  at  last" — but 
the  great  idea  is,  to  be  saved  at  present  and  just 
now.  It  is  not  a  mere  foot-washing  that  he  begs 
— as  many  who  would  have  their  feet  well  cared 
for  and  who  are  all  correct  and  strict  as  to  their 
outward  proprieties,  always  found  at  church  and 
never  in  places  of  wicked  or  hurtful  association,  as 
though  their  blameless  but  negative  walk  before 
men  would  save  them,  as  though  it  were  enough 
to  be  professing  Christians — but  it  is  an  entire 
sanctification  that  is  besought — feet  and  hands 
and  head.  And  it  is  just  a  lively  conception  of 
Christ's  condescending,  dying  love  to  sinners  and 
to  us,  wdiich  brings  us  to  put  ofi'  our  laxity  and  to 
come  into  harmony  with  his  gracious  plan  in  om- 
case.  It  is  when  we  see  him  taking  this  menial 
garb  and  performing  these  menial  offices,  all  to  pu- 
rify and  cleanse  us — all  to  bring  us  up  to  some 
true  estimation  of  our  need  and  of  his  scheme  for 
our  redemption — it  is  then  that  we  gain  a  wdiolly 
new  conception  of  oiu-  case  and  of  his  claims  and 


246         NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

of  our  obligations;  of  what  we  mar  do,  of  what 
we  ought  to  do,  of  what  we  fail  to  do.  of  what  he 
has  taught  and  patterned  for  us  to  do,  and  of  what 
(God  helping  us)  we  may  liope  to  do,  and  we  cry 
out.  ''  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands 
and  my  head. " 

And  especially,  when  the  divine  ^Nlaster  comes 
in  his  tender  love  and  with  his  sanctifying  method, 
and  represents  to  us  the  indispensable  necessity  of 
this  dailv  cleansins;  to  our  sord's  salvation,  and  we 
are  led  to  see  that  if  he  wash  us  not  we  have  no 
part  with  him ;  when  he  shows  us  how  foreign  our 
thouo-hts  are  from  his  thouo-hts.  and  our  wavs  from 
his  Avays;  what  poor  conceptions  we  have  of  om- 
need,  how  we  are  swayed  by  what  others  say  and 
do  more  than  by  what  he  requires;  it  is  then, 
when  we  see  that  our  dealing  must  be  with  him 
as  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  and  that  we  can 
not  hope  to  get  to  heaven  except  in  his  prescribed 
methods  and  by  his  gracious  offices,  day  by  day; 
it  is  then  that  we  beg  for  a  sanctification  of  all  our 
powers  and  all  our  activities  and  energies  and  op- 
portunities— '•  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my 
hands  and  my  head." 

But  we  are  prone  to  misunderstand  and  misin- 
tei-pret  his  dealings  and  so  we  object.  He  comes 
to  us  in  some  affliction,  and  we  do  not  see  how  it 
is  for  our  cleansino-  from  some  defilement  of  our 
walk,  how  he  comes  girt  with  a  towel,  comes  with 
bason  and  water,  just  to  do  us  this  loving  service. 
We  think  it  all  severity.  We  think  it  the  work 
of  a  hard  master,  but  it  is  the  work  of  a  faithful 


BY    PERSONAL    SANXTIFICATION.  247 

friend  and  servant.  We  misconstrue  the  dealing 
altogether.  It  is  some  loss,  some  disappointment, 
some  bereavement,  some  heart-breaking  trouble. 
Can  it  be  that  this  is  Jesus  come  to  Avash  our  feet, 
just  in  order  that  we  may  have  part  Avitli  him?  Is 
this  his  voice  out  of  tlie  wliirlwind — "If  I  wasli 
thee  not,  tliou  hast  no  part  witli  me?"  This  trib- 
ulation that  unsettles  us  at  our  table,  tliat  stirs  up 
our  nest,  that  is  so  full  of  distress  and  deprivation 
to  us,  tiiat  we  can  not  see  the  need  of  it  in  our 
case,  at  least  tliat  it  should  come  in  this  form ;  that 
altogether  contradicts  many  of  our  common  cher- 
ished ideas  of  what  is  good  for  us ;  is  this  Jesus  in 
servant's  garb,  come  to  wash  our  feet  lor  tlie  tal)le 
of  the  Lord?  Then  be  it  so  and  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  And  so  understood,  then  when 
he  presses  to  our  lips  this  bitter  cup  of  sorrow,  we 
may  hear  him  say,  "This  cup  is  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  my  blood;  drink  it  in  remembrance  of 
me." 

What  is  the  secret  of  our  inefficiency  as  Chris- 
tians? It  is  that  we  erect  for  ourselves  artificial 
and  unauthorized  standards  of  duty  and  we  are 
not  willing  to  be  undeceived.  We  cleave  to  our 
own  selfish  methods.  We  take  our  guage  of  re- 
ligious living  from  the  fair  average  around  us. 
We  want  just  to  stand  within  the  outer  edge  and 
circumference  of  the  discipleship,  so  as  not  to  be 
left  out  at  the  last  day.  But  we  set  before  us  no 
such  pattern  as  Jesus  Christ;  we  aim  at  no  such 
thing  as  to  reach  the  very  utmost  of  Christian  ser- 
vice.    It  is  too  much  with  us  a  task  work,  or  a 


248         NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

formality,  and  not  a  labor  of  love.  We  are  not 
hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness,  as  for 
daily  food;  we  are  not  wholly  consecrated  in  all 
our  walk  and  work,  in  all  our  course  and  inter- 
course; and  Avhat  is  worse,  we  do  not  count  it 
necessary  that  we  should  be.  We  will  Avash  our- 
selves in  our  own  way  and  not  be  Avashed  by  Je- 
sus, in  his  way. 

But  this  whole  matter  of  personal  and  habitual 
sanctification,  a  sanctification  which  is  not  merely 
commercial  and  social,  but  spiritual  and  individual, 
involves  actual  dealing  with  him,  daily  prayer  to 
him  and  for  his  sake  and  in  his  name. 

Let  us  consider  what  is  meant  by  this  sanctify- 
ing of  our  hands.  It  is  not  only  to  have  our  hands 
cleansed  from  actual  sin,  to  liave  clean  hands  in 
all  our  living  and  dealing — clean  from  corruptions 
of  trade,  from  fraud  and  deceit  and  overreaching 
in  daily  intercourse ;  it  is  to  have  all  our  industry 
and  our  business  turned  to  the  account  of  the  Mas- 
ter. Jesus  was  a  carpenter;  and  so  he  sanctified 
all  industrial  pursuits.  He  taught  us  by  that  lowly 
work  at  Nazareth  how  honorable  and  dignified  is 
any  industrial  calling,  if  it  be  pursued  in  his  name 
and  in  God's  service. 

I  have  stood  there  in  Nazareth,  where  tradition 
points  out  the  site  of  Joseph's  shop,  and  I  have 
wondered  how  the  hands  that  touched  the  bier 
of  the  widow's  dead  son  at  Nain,  and  stopped  the 
funeral  train  to  give  the  boy  back  to  his  mother, 
could  have  wrought  in  boyhood  at  that  common 
trade  of  men ;  or  how  the  same  hands  that  touched 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  249 

tlie  blind  eyes  and  brought  the  sight  again  to  the 
dead  eyeballs  of  Bartimeus  could  have  driven  the 
nails  of  the  carpenter  and  handled  those  rude  im- 
plements of  the  mechanic — the  same  hands  that 
were  nailed  fast  to  the  cross  for  us.  But  the 
greater  wonder  is,  how  every  stroke  of  his  hum- 
ble trade  was  sanctified  as  much  as  the  agony 
of  Gethsemane  or  the  winged  errand  of  an  angel. 

And  this  is  the  true  Christian  ambition — to  have 
all  his  daily  work,  whatever  he  turns  his  hand  to, 
hallowed  and  consecrated  to  Christ. 

AVe  all  know  what  it  is  to  be  working  for  par- 
ents or  for  brothers  and  sisters;  and  then,  by  a 
higher  step,  we  know  Avhat  it  is  to  be  working 
for  wife  and  children  in  all  that  Ave  do;  and  here, 
by  a  step  still  higher,  to  be  working  for  Jesus,  in 
all  our  daily  doings — to  have  all  the  busy  toil  of 
the  week  sanctified  and  dedicated  to  his  service, 
to  have  our  hands  set  to  no  work,  however  com- 
mon, without  invoking  his  blessing  and  bringing 
to  his  feet  the  well-earned  gains.  This  comes  from 
Christ's  washing  of  the  hands. 

And  then,  besides  having  our  business  done  for 
Christ,  to  find  Christ's  business  that  we  can  do 
and  are  called  to  do — to  set  our  hands  to  such 
work  as  we  may  do  for  the  perishing;  busily  gatli- 
ering  in  the  wandering,  reaching  out  the  hand  of 
charity  to  the  destitute,  scattering  the  word  of  life 
in  the  Bible  or  the  tract  or  the  Sabbath-school, 
building  up  the  church  and  supporting  the  cause 
of  Christ  in  the  world  ;  Christian  men  toiling, 
Christian  women  plying  the  needle  in  aid  of  the 


250         NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

missionary  work,  and  Christian  children  bringing 
in  their  tribute  for  the  service  of  Christ.  This  is 
noble.  This  is  Avhat  we  need.  This  is  what  we 
pray  for,  when  Ave  beg  that  Jesus  would  wash  our 
hands  as  well  as  our  feet. 

And  when  the  hands  are  washed  by  Christ — 
when  his  divine  grace,  applied  to  them,  sanctifies 
their  doings — then  they  are  opened  to  deeds  of 
liberality  and  Christian  charity.  The  hands  can 
not  be  Avashed  without  being  opened.  It  is  not 
possible  for  Christ  himself  to  wash  the  hands  of 
the  close-fisted,  without  opening  them  to  a  larger 
bounty  and  to  a  more  liberal  bestowment  of  world- 
ly goods  for  his  cause  and  kingdom. 

]\Ien  may  take  exception  to  this,  may  plead  that 
this  religion  is  a  thing  of  the  hearty  and  has  noth- 
ing to  do  Avith  the  pocket.  But  look  at  Zaccheus, 
the  converted  publican,  Avho  recognizes  at  once 
Christ's  claim  upon  his  means.  "Behold,  Lord, 
the  half  of  my  goods  I  giA^e  to  the  poor."  This 
is  his  profession  i]oav.  This,  he  says,  is  Avhat  I 
noAv  propose  to  do.  Not  I  have  clone  this  in  time 
past.  This  Avould  be  to  boast  of  Avhat  he  had  been 
and  Avliat  he  had  done,  Avhich  is  the  farthest  from 
his  thoughts.  So  far  from  this,  he  proposes  to  do 
his  utmost  to  undo  the  past.  "  If  I  haA^e  taken 
any  thing  from  any  man,  by  false  accusation " 
— as  he  had  done,  enriching  himself  by  extor- 
tion in  the  tax-gathering — "  I  restore  unto  him 
fourfold  y 

And  yet  more,  this  higher  Christian  living  calls 
for  Christ's  sanctifying  methods  to  be  applied  also 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  251 

to  our  heads.  It  is  not  enough  even  to  liave  the 
new  heart,  if  that  be  all.  New  hands  and  feet  and 
head  are  needed.  Grace  in  the  heart  is  often  very 
slow  in  reaching  to  the  hands  and  the  head,  so  as 
to  pervade  all  the  active  living.  Some  men  cleave 
so  to  their  old  notions,  do  not  wish  their  opinions 
interfered  with,  dispute  minor  points,  lay  claim  to 
a  large  liberty  of  thinking  and  action  that  is  not 
directed  and  dictated  by  the  Gospel.  And  there 
are  imaginations  that  need  to  be  cast  down  and 
there  are  high  thoughts  that  exalt  themselves 
against  the  knowledge  of  God  which  need  to  be 
brought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ. 
And  this  sanctification  of  the  head  is  the  great 
demand  of  our  day.  Free  thinking  and  laxity  of 
doctrine  work  laxity  of  living.  Besides,  to  have 
the  head  sanctified  involves  the  cleansing  of  all 
the  senses,  as  of  all  the  sentiment — the  eye  sanc- 
tified with  all  its  seeing,  the  ear  with  all  its  hear- 
ing and  the  lips  with  all  their  speech  and  con- 
versation. This  is  the  high  idea  of  our  religion. 
Opinions  need  to  be  sanctified.  And  the  daily 
thinking  and  planning  and  calculating  need  to 
be  sanctified.  And  men's  pride  of  intellect  and 
selfish  claim  of  judging  for  themselves  needs  to 
be  humbled,  not  before  mere  church  authority, 
but  before  the  holy  Scriptures  and  before  God. 
And  when,  like  Peter,  we  are  ready  to  dispute 
Christ's  methods  of  grace,  or  when  we  think  the 
means  of  grace  which  he  has  appointed  for  us  in 
his  word  are  unnecessary  for  us;  when  we  tliink 
that    the    Bible    may   be    dispensed   with    or   the 


252         NO    PERSONAL    SALVATION    EXCEPT 

prayer-meeting  or  the  Sabbath  service  or  the  sac- 
raments, and  imagine  that  we  can  get  to  heaven 
v^ithout  them,  then  Jesus  will  insist,  "If  I  wash 
thee  not,  feet  and  hands  and  head,  thou  hast  no 
part  with  me/' 

When  you  see  a  man  planning  for  Christ  as  he 
plans  for  his  business,  studying  how  he  can  best 
advance  his  cause  and  push  forward  every  enter- 
prise for  the  Master,  studying  how  he  can  best 
stir  up  others  to  co-operate  and  how  he  can  best 
reach  and  influence  for  good  the  neglected  and 
perishing,  there  you  know  the  head,  as  well  as 
the  hands  and  the  feet,  has  been  cleansed  by 
Jesus.  There  you  know  the  sanctifying  power 
has  gone  to  the  brain  and  has  set  all  the  busy 
thought  in  motion  for  care  and  painstaking  in 
the  work  of  Christ.  And  when  you  see  such  a 
merchant  or  such  a  mechanic  or  day-laborer  sanc- 
tified in  all  his  activities,  from  head  to  foot,  and 
manifestly  giving  himself,  heart  and  soul,  to  the 
]\Iaster,  there  you  see  a  power  in  the  world ! 

The  amount  of  good  that  one  man  can  accom- 
plish, when  fired  by  tlie  love  of  Clirist,  even  though 
his  intellect  or  talents  be  not  great,  nor  his  social 
position  exalted,  is  simply  incalculable.  Such  an 
one  as  Harlan  Page,  who  used  to  stand  in  the 
great  city  almost  alone  in  the  annals  of  lay-work- 
ers, is  having  a  noble  band  of  successors  in  our 
day.  And  the  world  will  never  be  converted  until 
private  Christians  shall  go  out  to  publish  the  Gos- 
pel in  their  sphere — until  men  and  w^omen  in  the 
chm-ch  membership  shall  count  it  their  high  call- 


BY    PERSONAL    SANCTIFICATION.  253 

ing  to  make  known  this  great  salvation  to  the 
■world  around. 

It  was  never  meant  to  be  the  work  of  the  minis- 
ter alone,  as  one  of  a  thousand,  but  of  tlie  minis- 
ter, as  ordained  to  the  holy  office,  for  a  leader  and 
guide  of  the  people,  in  this  great  work.  It  is  im- 
possible that  he  should  bear  the  burden  alone,  or 
do  justice  to  the  field  alone,  or  make  successful 
onset  upon  the  foes  of  God  and  man,  single-handed 
and  alone.  The  church  membership  are  too  mucli 
excusing  themselves,  as  if  they  had  employed  the 
minister  for  this  and  could  decline  the  personal  re- 
sponsibility of  laboring  for  Christ.  But  the  sub- 
stance of  all  the  commandments  is  a  love  to  God 
from  every  man,  which  shall  engage  all  the  heart 
and  all  the  soul  and  all  the  mind  and  all  the 
strength. 

And  if  this  is  the  necessary  ruling  of  God's  moral 
law  from  the  beginning,  how  can  there  be  any  less 
requirement  under  the  blaze  of  the  Gospel  and  in 
the  liglit  of  the  cross  of  Christ.  When  the  living, 
loving  Christ  comes  down  to  you  and  to  me,  as  he 
came  to  Simon  Peter,  and  claims  the  privilege  of 
washing  our  feet  and  sanctifying  all  our  walk  and 
all  our  work,  Avoe  to  the  man  who  resists — who 
disputes  the  wisdom,  or  expediency  or  dignity  of 
such  an  office.  Then  he  shall  hear  from  the  Mas- 
ter, in  words  like  the  thunder  of  the  judgment-day 
— "If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  Avith  me." 
And  blessed  is  he  Avho  will  answer — "Lord,  not 
my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head." 


XV. 

MODERN   INDIFFERENTISM. 

"And  Gallio  cared  for  none  of  these  things." — Acts  xviii.  17. 

The  progress  of  tlie  Gospel  in  the  world  devel- 
ops individual  cliaracter.  Whether  in  or  out  of 
the  church,  men  are  sifted  and  searched  by  the 
presence  of  this  religion  of  Christ.  Just  as  a  chem- 
ical test  Avill  disclose  the  presence  of  poison  in  the 
blood  or  tissues,  even  of  a  dead  subject;  or  just  as 
the  same  test  will  tell  you  of  the  metal,  whether 
it  is  pure ;  or  just  as  the  fire  will  bring  the  gold, 
glistening  in  sunny  globules,  from  the  dark  ore — 
so  this  divine  religion  brings  men  forth  to  the  light 
and  reveals  their  inner  selves,  and  exhibits  their 
tastes  and  affinities.  So  said  the  aged  Simeon,  in 
the  Temple,  with  Jesus  in  his  arms — "This  child 
is  set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in 
Israel,  that  the  thoughts  of  many  hearts  may  be 
revealed." 

The  trath  of  God  in  the  world  produces  conflict. 
It  is  no  fault  of  the  truth,  but  only  of  the  error, 
which  it  is  called  to  confront  and  overcome.  Con- 
troversy must  attend  the  promulgation  of  what  is 
right  amidst  a  world  of  wrong,  and  of  what  is 
good  amidst  a  world  of  evil.     Men  accuse  Chris- 


MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM.  255 

tianity  of  all  tliis  confroversij,  not  considering  that 
it  is  only  the  introduction  of  daylight  that  battles 
with  a  world  of  darkness,  and  that  sends  wild 
beasts  howling  to  their  dens.  It  was  in  this  as- 
pect of  the  case,  that  Jesus  himself  said,  "Think 
not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth.  I 
came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword."  And  yet 
the  sword  whicli  he  wields  is  plainly  in  the  in- 
terest of  universal  peace. 

In  the  apostolic  history  before  ns  tlie  Gospel  was 
making  its  way,  amidst  surrounding  heathenism, 
from  the  capital  of  Judea  to  the  metropolis  of  the 
world.  Look  at  the  characters  whicli  are  brought 
out  at  every  point,  in  every  city  and  village ;  some 
falling  in  with  its  glorious  revelations  and  joining 
the  ranks  of  its  publishers  and  advocates,  others 
ranging  violently  in  the  opposition,  denouncing  its 
doctrines  and  persecuting  its  friends.  In  this  par- 
agraph that  records  the  success  of  the  Word  in  the 
Grecian  Peninsula,  and  in  the  great  city  of  Cor- 
inth, here  are  Aquila  and  Priscilla — humble  refu- 
gees from  Rome — day-laborers  at  the  trade  of  tent- 
making — becoming  converts  and  boon  companions 
of  Paul;  and  there  is  Apollos,  a  learned  and  elo- 
quent scholar  of  Alexandria,  giving  his  high  talent 
to  the  exposition  of  the  truth,  yet  sitting  at  the 
feet  of  these  tent-makers,  to  hear  the  word  of  God 
expounded  more  perfectly.  And  here  is  the  crowd 
of  false  religionists,  dragging  Paul  before  a  hea- 
then tribunal,  while  even  the  heathen  multitude 
range  on  his  side,  in  sympathy  Avith  the  noble- 
minded,  persecuted  Christian.     And  here  is  Gallio, 


256  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

the  heathen  judge  on  the  bench,  pronouncing  all 
the  controversy  trivial  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  and 
hastily,  summarily  dismissing  it  as  a  mere  quibble 
— or  logomachy — a  dispute  of  words  and  names, 
and  involving  no  great  question  of  practical  right, 
to  be  recognized  at  his  tribunal.  It  is  not  Gcdlio 
as  a  judge,  or  an  officer  of  state,  with  whom  we 
have  here  to  do,  but  Gcdlio  as  a  representative  of 
a  prevalent  indifferentism  to  Avhom  we  direct  your 
attention. 

This  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  still,  in  its  pas- 
sage through  the  world,  the  same  as  proclaimed  at 
that  day,  only  with  vastly  increased  and  accumu- 
lating testimonies  from  all  the  generations.  This 
Christianity  presents  itself  at  the  bar  of  every  man's 
reason  and  conscience.  And  he  must  give  it  a  hear- 
ing^ or  drive  it  from  his  judgment-seat.  The  man 
who  looks  it  fairly  in  the  face,  and  even  attempts 
an  examination  of  its  claims,  and  reports  adversely, 
and  calls  himself  an  unbeliever,  for  reasons  Avhich 
he  assigns  and  vhidicates,  is  nevertheless,  on  liis 
own  ground,  open  to  conviction,  and  may  hear  the 
case  pleaded  again  at  the  bar  of  private,  personal 
judgment,  and  may  be  won  over,  eventually,  to  its 
embrace.  But  the  man  wlio  is  simply  indifferent^ 
and  can  not  be  detained  for  a  hearing  of  the  case, 
and  on  one  plea  or  another  summarily  dismisses  it, 
as  not  a  question  at  his  bar,  he  is  the  most  hope- 
less of  all.  Infidelity,  ho^v^ever  it  may  have  en- 
trenched itself  with  sophistries  and  fortified  itself 
with  arguments,  is  still  bound  to  hear  the  case 
reargued  in  open  court.     But  the  indifferentism  that 


MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM.  257 

dismisses  it  altogether,  and  drives  it  from  tlie  judg- 
ment-seat, puts  itself  out  of  the  sphere  of  its  high 
doctrines  and  strong  arguments,  and  may  be  writ- 
ten hopeless^  even  beyond  its  avowed  opposers. 

The  type  of  indifferentism  in  our  day  is  still  that 
of  the  heathen  mind,  as  exhibited  in  Gallio.  This 
man  was  the  brother  of  the  great  Roman  scholar, 
Seneca,  and  was  held  in  high  repute  as  a  judicious 
administrator  and  sound  thinker.  And  here,  in  his 
verdict,  that  was  no  verdict  at  all,  is  only  the  high- 
est judgment  of  Christianity  from  the  heathen  point 
of  view.  And  on  precisely  similar  grounds  men 
of  Christian  communities  among  us,  are  every  day 
dismissing  this  great  subject  and  banishing  it  from 
their  consideration,  and  they  are  thus  evincing  the 
same  heathen  instincts  and  tendencies;  they  are  in 
effect  ranging  themselves,  in  their  practical  judg- 
ment, with  this  heathen  Gallio;  they  are  showing 
themselves,  under  these  Christian  influences  of  our 
day,  to  have  made  no  advance,  beyond  that  dark 
and  dismal  age  of  human  thought  and  religious  in- 
quiry in  which  the  world  was  shrouded  in  pagan- 
ism. It  is  all  to  them  as  if  Jesus  Christ  had  never 
come,  as  if  the  light  of  this  glorious  Gospel  had 
never  dawned  upon  the  earth. 

Let  us  analyze  the  heathenism  here  in  the  case 
of  Gallio.  His  plea  for  dismissing  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion altogether  from  his  tribunal  is,  that  it  is  not 
a  question  of  wrong-doing,  or  of  actual  flagrant 
crime,  but  a  question  of  words  and  names,  and  of 
Jewish  law,  with  which  he  had  nothing  to  do.  So 
says  Pilate — "Am  I  a  Jew  ?  " 
17 


258  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

Look  at  the  heathenism  of  our  popular  litera- 
ture, that  treats  the  subject  of  religion  in  the  same 
summary  way  of  contempt,  ignoring  the  claims  of 
Christianity  as  a  reHgion  of  the  past  or  as  merely 
the  business  of  its  professional  advocates — of  min- 
isters and  of  church  members — as  well  enough,  per- 
haps, for  those  who  have  so  committed  themselves, 
but  as  of  no  consequence  for  independent  thinkers. 
That,  as  between  one  religion  or  another,  Judaism, 
Mohammedanism,  Buddhism,  or  Christianity,  it  is  a 
mere  question  of  ivords,  or  of  names,  of  definitions 
or  of  creeds  and  confessions — but  nothing  worthy 
any  one's  painstaking,  to  unravel  the  mysteries,  or 
to  solve  the  doubts. 

But  let  it  be  understood,  this  is  the  heathenism 
of  our  modern  tliinking — of  "  advance  thinkers,"  as 
they  please  to  call  themselves — who  pride  them- 
selves on  progress,  and  are  only  going  back  to  the 
dark  and  dreary  heathenism  that  had  no  Christ 
and  no  hope  for  eternity  to  illumine  the  midnight 
darkness.  "If  it  were  a  question  of  lorong!''  he 
says.  And  this  is  the  heathen  morality,  that  would 
separate  right  and  wrong  altogether  from  a  re- 
vealed religion,  and  would  therefore  follow  brute 
instincts,  and  fall  back  upon  natural  tastes  and  ap- 
p)etites  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Who 
does  not  discern,  through  all  this  mist  evolved  from 
modern  speculation  by  the  conjury  of  this  genius 
of  heathenism,  all  the  orgies  of  idolatry,  and  all  the 
abominations  of  pagan  rites  and  practices,  coming 
back  upon  us  in  the  new  social  system  ? 

On  our  frontiers,  in  our  new  settlements — away 


MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM.  259 

from  the  constraints  of  these  divine  Scriptures, 
where  bold  adventurers  have  made  their  way  to 
set  lip  their  new  systems,  and  plant  the  standards 
of  their  false  faith,  on  the  plea  of  progressive 
tlionglit  and  liberal  doctrine — you  see  heathenism^ 
restored  with  all  the  depravities  of  JMormonism, 
superstition,  or  spiritualism,  in  various  forms. 

And  our  polislied  magazine  literatiu-e,  that  af- 
fects so  contemptuously  to  set  aside  this  religion 
of  Christ,  is  simply  a  revived  heathenism.  Let  the 
writers  be  adjudged  to  their  proper  place.  They 
have  not  anywise  advanced  beyond  Plato,  and  Soc- 
rates, and  Seneca. 

Is  it  not  history  ?  Was  it  not  long  ago  put  to 
the  proof  and  ascertained — demonstrated  in  the 
wisdom  and  providence  of  God — that  "  the  world 
hy  tvisdom  knew  not  God,"  that  ivorlcUy  wisdom, 
which  in  its  higiiest  estate,  without  Christianity,  is 
heathen,  so  far  from  attaining  to  the  knowledge  of 
God,  attained  to  ignorance  of  God — to  Polytheism, 
Pantheism  and  base  idolatry;  to  flat  and  outriglit 
denial  of  God.  And  is  it  not  proven  most  conclu- 
sively, that  to  blot  out  Christ  and  Christianity  is 
to  blot  out  the  sun  from  the  heavens,  and  to  make 
the  knowledge  of  God  impossible  to  men  ? 

If  now,  we  pursue  the  modern  indiflferentism 
more  closely,  we  shall  find  that  it  is  traceable  to 
various  forms  of  this  heathen  prejudice.  It  is  a 
prejudice,  which  re/uses  any  fair  and  patient  in- 
vestigation of  religious  truth,  which  declines  any 
earnest  study  of  the  documents  of  our  faith,  but 
which,  just  at  the  threshold  of  all  inquiry,  rules 


260  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

the  whole  subject  out  of  court — denying  the  jm-is- 
diction,  resolving  it  into  mere  quibbles  of  lan- 
guage, or  disputes  of  divines,  or  conflicts  of  divers 
religions. 

You  say  you  can  not  deal  with  these  doctrinal, 
theological  questions ;  if  it  were  a  question  of  right 
or  wrong,  then  you  could  reasonably  judge  and 
act.  But  these  are  the  highest  themes  of  human 
inquiry.  They  enter  into  every-day  affairs  of  men. 
Is  it  not  a  question  of  icrong?  Great  God!  what 
is  wrong,  if  it  is  not  wrong  to  neglect  and  deny 
thee;  and  what  is  right,  if  it  is  not  right  to  love 
and  serve  thee?  Conscience — that  arbiter  within 
5^ou — testifies  to  the  prodigious  wrong  of  neglect- 
ing the  soul,  and  refusing  the  claims  of*  God,  and 
ignoring  the  final  tribunal,  and  despising  the  di- 
vine grace.  Is  it  not  a  question  of  w^'ong,  that 
forces  itself  upon  you  as  responsible  creatures,  con- 
scious of  that  responsibility,  and  even  recognizing 
the  truth  of  Christianity,  but  rejecting  its  high 
obligations?  Even  coming  hither  to  the  sanctu- 
ary, and  receiving  its  messages,  but  utterly  disre- 
garding their  personal  application.  "What  is  the 
chief  end  of  man?*'  "What  is  sin?"  "What  is 
God?"     Are  not  these  fair  questions? 

This  prejudice  takes  other  and  peculiar  shapes, 
in  certain  instances.  In  some  one  of  your  minds 
it  may  define  itself  as  a  prejudice  against  certain 
church  members,  whom  you  have  known.  And 
so,  you  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  church, 
or  with  Christianity.  As  if  a  prejudice  against 
certain  physicians,  or  quackeries,  or  against  their 


MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM.  261 

patients  even,  should  decide  you  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  heahng  art  of  medicine.  Can  you 
not  take  a  thought  further  and  ask,  what  you  will 
do  when  you  are  seized  with  some  alarming  sick- 
ness? All  this  indifference  may  answer  you  to- 
day, while  you  are  well,  and  so  loell  as  to  think 
foolishly  that  you  can  never  be  sick.  But  when 
death  comes  knocking  at  your  door,  with  all  the 
symptoms  of  fatal  malady — what  then?  All  the 
absurdities  and  inconsistencies  of  this  or  that  prac- 
titioner, or  all  your  impressions  against  them  as  a 
class,  or  against  this  or  that  school  of  medicine, 
will  not  hinder  you  from  availing  yourself  of  what- 
ever aid  any  of  them  can  give  you,  in  your  hour 
of  awful  disease  and  pain  and  death. 

Or,  you  are  prejudiced  against  the  sects.  And 
you  see  and  hear  so  much  of  controversy,  and  that 
so  sharply  and  shamefully  conducted,  evincing  so 
little  of  a  Christian  spirit — one  party  or  interest 
persecuting  another,  and  making  party  name  or 
usage  to  be  more  than  Christianity  itself  The 
doctrine  is  promulgated  that  the  state  is  secular; 
that  religion  has  no  business  with  the  state,  and 
the  state  has  no  business  with  religion.  And  so  it 
is  loudly  claimed  that  there  shall  be  no  oaths  in 
court,  no  chaplains  under  the  government,  no  Sab- 
bath legalized,  no  Bible  in  the  public  schools  and 
no  religion.  But  this  is  irreligion— ^a^se  religion. 
And  this  irrdigion  is  sectarian,  bitterly  and  boldly 
sectarian. 

Take  all  the  opposing  forces  in  the  great  contro- 
versy and  is  not  Judaism  sectarian,  and  Romanism? 


262  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

And  is  not  infidelity  a  sect  witli  its  organizations, 
its  preaching,  and  its  schools?  And  is  this  arrant 
heathenism  to  be  rolled  in  upon  ns  under  the  guise 
of  secularizing  onr  public  institutions  under  the 
state  ?     God  forbid ! 

But,  therefore,  you  Avill  have  nothing  to  do  Avith 
the  subject.  And  is  it  thus  that  you  set  aside 
questions  of  political  party,  and  great  vital  ques- 
tions of  government  ?  Will  you  have  no  govern- 
ment because  some  secretaries  or  Congressmen  are 
corrupt?  Will  you  dismiss  the  whole  matter,  and 
form  no  opinion  on  the  case  in  hand  ?  Ah !  I  see 
you  eagerly  canvassing  the  neius,  eagerly  poring 
over  the  arguments  pro  and  con,  and  j^ourselves 
joining  in  the  controversies.  And  you  judge  the 
controversies  to  be  vital.  And  you  do  not  hasten 
to  pronounce  against  the  laws  of  the  land,  because 
the  sense  and  bearing  of  them  may  be  sharply  dis- 
puted. No!  You  do  not  decide  for  anarchy,  be- 
cause government  among  a  free  people  has  always 
led  to  strife  of  opinion,  and  even  to  conflicts  at 
arms!     Oh,  no! 

But  another  type  of  the  present  prevalent  indif- 
ferentism  is  traceable  to  mere  secularity. 

Business-men  are  found  ignoring  altogether  this 
momentous  subject,  because  it  is  not  in  the  line  of 
their  secular,  commercial  pursuits.  To  them  it  is 
quite  an  outside  matter.  No  time  to  attend  to  it, 
no  disposition  to  take  it  up.  Just  as  little  relish 
for  the  inquiry  as  many  a  farmer  or  day -laborer 
would  have  for  inquiring  into  "the  chemistry  of 
the  sunbeam."     You  rule  us  out  of  court  therefore. 


MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM.  263 

You  will  not  entertain  these  vital  questions.  You 
are  prone  to  say,  it  is  a  question  of  tvords  or  of 
names,  of  doctrines  or  denominations.  And,  there- 
fore, you  are  caring  for  none  of  the  doctrines,  and 
you  are  joining  yourself  in  good  earnest  to  none  of 
the  denominations.  Pity  that  a  man  should  starve 
because  he  can  not  decide  what  is  the  healthiest 
food,  or  should  perish  in  a  wreck  because  there 
are  several  life-boats  launched,  and  he  can  not 
choose  between  them.  But  you  are  perishing  of 
indifference. 

You  say,  if  it  were  a  question  of  lorong — that  is, 
of  wrong  such  as  a  business-man  has  to  deal  wdtli 
— wrong  dealing  in  trade — or  a  question  of  govern- 
ment wrong,  of  taxes  and  tariffs,  or  a  question  of 
violated  mercantile  obligations;  if  it  were  a  ques- 
tion of  any  such  practical  moment,  then,  indeed, 
reason  w^ould,  that  you  should  bear  with  us. 

And  is  this,  then,  the  high  service  to  w-hicli  rea- 
son is  confined,  and  is  this  the  noble  function  of 
man's  divinest  attribute,  to  occupy  itself  only  with 
the  decimal  fractions  of  profit  and  loss,  only  with 
the  system  of  trade  and  banking;  to  give  up  the 
immortal  soul  to  buying  and  selling,  until  the  soul 
itself  is  sold  in  the  markets,  as  a  chattel  in  the 
shambles?  Are  these,  then,  the  highest  themes 
of  thought?  And  must  nothing  else  claim  supe- 
rior attention  ?  And  is  it  so,  indeed,  as  the  terra 
would  seem  to  indicate,  that,  in  this  secular  age 
and  among  practical  men,  high  intellectual  and 
religious  sjxcidation  is  crowded  out  by  speculation 
in  the  markets  ?     WUl  a  man  rob  God  ? 


264  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

The  entire  substance  of  many  a  man's  creed  is, 
that  "Honesty  is  the  best  poHcy,"  which,  analyzed, 
may  mean  merely  that,  in  the  long  run,  it  pays 
best  to  be  honest ;  that  as  a  stroke  of  policy  it  is 
best — is  found  to  turn  out  best  for  one's  character 
and  influence,  and  standing  as  a  business-man ;  but 
that  apart  from  policy  it  is  nothing.  We  preach  to 
you  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  you  seem  to  say, 
"  Give  us  some  practical  business  question  and  we 
will  hear  you.  But  these  questions  of  ivords  and 
names — oi  justification^  adoption,  and  sanctification, 
o^  free  grace  and  repentance  and  God  and  Christ; 
these  questions  of  religious  law,  or  these  questions 
of  church — one  church  or  another — where  no  busi- 
ness interest  is  involved ;  we  must  be  excused  from 
these." 

And  then,  indeed,  is  the  church  nothing,  or  worth 
nothing  more  than  the  cost?  Nothing  to  the  com- 
monwealth and  community  and  city,  nothing  to 
yourself,  and  your  family?  And  is  not  this  a 
question  of  eminent  practical  account?  Does  it 
not  fairly  involve  and  underlie  all  business  ques- 
tions and  calculations?  Ye  practical  men — busi- 
ness-men— I  ask  you,  is  not  here  the  great  funda- 
mental question  of  securities,  the  very  bottom  fact 
of  all  bonds  and  all  mortgages  and  all  endorse- 
ments? If  you  do  not  save  society  from  rotten- 
ness by  this  religion  of  Christ,  can  you  save  your 
houses,  or  your  claims,  or  your  goods,  or  your 
deposits  ? 

And  what  shall  T  say  of  this  indiflerentism  when 
it  appears  in  womun — she  who,  of  all  the  race,  is 


MODERN    INDIFFERKNTISM.  265 

most  indebted  to  this  Cliristiaiiity ;  she  whose  sex 
has  been  so  elevated  and  adorned  by  this  rehgion, 
as  compared  Avith  the  heathen  society  in  GalHo's 
time?  That  luomcin,  made  to  be  clinging  and  con- 
fiding, as  the  vine  and  its  tendrils,  should  repudi- 
ate him  who  is  the  great  prop  of  our  humanity; 
she  that  is  given  over  so  often  to  damaging  alli- 
ances, that  she  should  disown  this  man  of  Bethany 
— this  brother,  husband,  Jesus  Christ — and  should 
have  her  heart  crushed  by  human  treacheries,  for 
lack  of  such  a  Partner  and  Bosom  Friend.  That 
woman,  whose  nature  and  ambition  it  is  to  shine 
in  society,  should  disregard  God's  direction  how  to 
shine,  as  the  firmament,  and  as  the  stars,  forever 
and  ever,  by  turning  many  to  righteousness;  that 
woman,  whose  nature  is  so  ready  to  acknowledge 
and  requite  favors  Avith  hearty  gratitude,  sliould 
disdain  to  confess  Christ  and  his  dying  love ;  grate- 
ful to  friends  and  benefactors,  only  not  grateful  to 
this  Jesus;  that  woman,  whose  brightest  examples 
in  history  are  the  3Iarys,  last  at  the  cross  and  first 
at  the  sepulchre,  whom  the  dying  Lord  last  recog- 
nized from  his  cross  and  to  whom  the  risen  Saviour 
first  appeared  at  the  sepulchre  —  that  she  should 
show  no  interest  in  him  nor  listen  to  his  recogni- 
tion by  name;  nay,  that  even  w^th  the  seal  of 
baptism  upon  her  forehead,  she  should  not  bow 
to  him,  nor  confess  him  as  her  Lord — this  is  the 
most  astounding — that  she  should  bow  her  conse- 
crated head  to  mammon,  and  yield  herself  a  devotee 
to  the  Avorld,  and  give  up  her  soul  to  vanity,  till  it 
is  hardened  irrevocably  against  all  the  truth  of 


266  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

God  and  heaven!  This  is  incredible  —  horrible! 
But  it  is  so! 

And  yet  the  Marys,  and  the  women  that  fol- 
lowed him  from  Galilee,  and  the  daughters  of  Je- 
rusalem, are  types  of  a  large  class  —  blessed  be 
God!  I  see  hardened  men  passing  by  the  cross 
and  Avagging  their  heads,  but  the  icomen  smite 
upon  their  breasts,  bewailing  and  lamenting  him, 
and  they  keep  guard  at  his  sepulchre,  and  they 
bring  spices  to  embalm  his  corpse. 

Alas!  for  the  woman  whose  chief  ornament, 
amidst  all  the  parade  and  display  of  life,  is  lack- 
ing— must  always  be  lacking — till  the  soul  finds 
its  proper  affinity  and  the  life  its  proper  radiance 
in  Christ  Jesus.  She  can  least  of  all  afford  to 
bring  back  upon  us  the  barbarities  of  heathen- 
ism. And  yet,  when  these  great  questions  of 
Christianity  are  brouglit  to  the  bar  of  her  judg- 
ment, I  see  her  often,  like  Gallio,  dismissing  them 
from  her  tribunal  as  matters  with  which  she  has 
nothing  to  do.  If  it  were  a  question  of  social 
wrong,  according  to  the  etiquette  and  conven- 
tionalities of  the  day,  she  would  call  it  reason- 
able to  enter  into  it  with  zest  and  interest. 

And  is  this,  then,  the  debasement  of  woman's 
reason,  in  this  Christian  land,  amidst  these  sanc- 
tuaries?— the  reason  of  the  butterfly,  to  so  pro- 
nounce the  body  more  than  the  soul,  grace  of 
manner  more  than  graces  of  the  spirit,  and  Christ 
and  the  judgment  mere  empty  words  and  names? 

My  hearers,  you  will  bear  with  us,  if  we  plainly 
declare  that  all  this  popular  indifferentism  of  our 


MODERN    IXDIFFERENTISM.  267 

day,  which  often  prides  itself  in  learning  or  prac- 
tical Avisdoni,  has  its  ground  in  ignorance. 

This  heathen  Gallio  was  totally  ignorant  of 
Christianity.  And  so  he  most  inconsiderately  and 
rashly  drove  these  men  and  all  their  religions  ques- 
tions from  his  tribunal.  And  he  was  even  igno- 
rant of  the  direct  and  immediate  bearing  of  his 
decision.  In  deciding  to  ignore  the  right,  he  inau- 
gurated violence  and  crime.  For  at  once,  the  mul- 
titude, emboldened  by  his  heathen  ruling,  rushed 
upon  the  Jewish  leaders,  and  beat  them  in  the 
very  presence  of  the  judgment-seat.  And  there, 
at  once,  w^as  a  question  of  wrong  and  of  flagrant 
crime,  which  it  behooved  him  to  recognize  at  court. 
Oidy,  if  you  banish  religion  as  a  matter  of  trivial 
concern,  then  you  must  entertain  the  whole  list 
of  criminal  questions,  as  they  rush  for  adjudication, 
from  the  mobs  of  unrestrained  violence. 

Look  at  Pilate,  the  proud  Koman  procurator, 
who  can  have  nothing  to  do  Avith  wdiat  he  deems 
a  mere  idle  Jewish  controversy — "Take  ye  him, 
and  judge  him  according  to  your  law."  Pity  upon 
his  ignorance !  Oh,  if  he  knew  that  he  has  Jesus 
in  hand,  and  that  this  Jesus  is  the  glorious  God- 
man,  Son  of  God,  the  blessed  impersonation  of 
truth  and  love  and  law  and  order,  tlien,  instead 
of  wildly  asking,  "  What  is  truth  ?  "  he  would  have 
clasped  him,  like  the  aged  Simeon,  to  his  arms, 
and  thrown  around  him  the  high  protection  of  the 
Roman  power.  The  Scripture  itself  says,  "  If  the 
princes  of  this  world  had  known,  they  would  not 
have  crucified  the  Lord  of  Glory." 


268  MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM. 

And  all  this  affected  advance  in  science — has  it 
discovered  indeed  that  there  is  no  God?  It  is  only 
the  fool  who  says  it.  And  he  says  it  only  in  his 
heart,  ashamed  if  the  profane  and  blasphemous 
atheism  comes  np  to  his  lips !  Is  this,  indeed, 
the  dignity  of  true  learning?  Is  this  the  noble- 
ness of  a  highly  cultivated  and  well  furnished  in- 
tellect? Are  these  the  modern  Magi,  who  come 
to  Bethlehem,  to  turn  Jesus  out  of  the  stable,  when 
he  has  found  no  room  in  the  inn?  Lord  Bacon 
has  well  said,  "A  little  philosophy  inclineth  man's 
mind  to  atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy  bring- 
eth  men's  minds  about  to  religion."  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  answered  the  whole  host  of  free-thinkers, 
when  he  answered  the  infidel  Halley,  in  those  cut- 
ting words,  "  I  have  studied  these  things,  and  you 
have  not."  And  so  the  late  Dr.  Hamilton  pro- 
foundly remarked,  "It  is  easy  for  a  sciolist  to  be 
a  sceptic;  but  it  is  not  easy  for  a  well-informed 
historian  to  reject  the  records  of  faith."  But  this 
air  of  indifferentism  is,  with  many,  only  the  thin 
disguise  of  a  troubled  soul. 

Pilate,  pacing  the  judgment-hall — restive,  vacil- 
lating, with  all  his  convictions  on  the  side  of  Jesus, 
and  yet  swayed  by  the  multitude  to  give  him  up 
to  death — he  is  the  type  of  such.  Brought  by  this 
preached  Gospel  and  by  all  these  Christian  institu- 
tions and  ordinances  and  influences  to  confront 
Jesus  face  to  face,  they  had  rather  he  were  ofi* 
their  hands,  rather  they  had  no  verdict  to  render 
in  his  case.  They  Avould  give  no  decision  against 
him.     They    can    take   no   responsibility  for   him. 


MODERN    INDIFFERENTISM.  269 

Any  public  espousal  of  his  cause  tliey  are  not  pre- 
pared for.  Tliey  will  only,  as  a  last  resort,  let  the 
mob  take  their  course  and  crucify  him,  while  they 
will  wash  their  hands  of  the  blood!  They  will 
take  no  active  interest  in  his  cause,  amidst  the  pre- 
vailing clamor  of  his  enemies,  and  they  will  flatter 
themselves  that  they  have  at  least  pronounced  him 
innocent. 

My  hearers,  the  witness  is  within  you,  as  part 
of  your  own  souls,  that  these  themes  that  we 
preach  to  you  are  tlie  highest  articles  of  trutli, 
most  worthy  your  immediate  attention  and  em- 
brace. Better  postpone  any  other  questions  than 
postpone  these.  All  other  interests  are  questions 
of  names,  and  luords,  and  of  human  laws.  But 
these  are  the  questions  of  right  and  wrong,  of 
good  and  evil,  of  happiness  and  misery,  of  life  and 
death  eternal.  Reason,  in  the  exercise  of  her  high- 
est function,  protests  that  you  shall  postpone  busi- 
ness and  postpone  pleasure,  postpone  health  and 
wealth,  postpone  even  the  claims  of  home  and 
friends,  and  let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,  while  this 
grand,  paramount  question  of  the  soul  and  of  your 
relations  to  God  shall  be  settled  for  time  and  eter- 
nity. Oh !  when  you  shall  stand  before  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  the  universe,  and  shall  find  it  to  be 
the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  then — if  not  before — 
when  it  is  too  late,  you  ivill  care  for  all  of  these 
things. 


XVI. 

THE   JOY   OF   GOD'S   SALVATION. 

''Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation,  and  uphold  me  with 
thy  free  spirit;  then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways,  and  sinners 
shall  be  converted  unto  thee." — Psalm  li.  12-13. 

True  religion  in  the  heart  and  life  is  essentially 
a  lucll-spring  of  joy.  However  it  may  have  been 
misunderstood  by  the  world,  or  misinterpreted  even 
by  its  adherents  in  this  respect,  this  is  still  its  lead- 
ing feature — that  it  is  a  joy  forever.  Not  the  mere 
sensational  pleasure  which  is  misnamed  joy — an 
external,  adventitious  thing  that  comes  and  goes 
as  the  sunshine  among  the  clouds — but  a  living 
principle,  a  quality  of  the  new  nature,  which  thus 
becomes  a  vital  force  and  works  out  its  glad  results. 

Did  not  angels,  who  are  the  very  impersonations 
of  happiness,  declare  it  to  be  good  tidings  of  great 
joy  ?  And  even  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  who  repre- 
sented it  on  earth,  did  not  he  show  himself  to  be 
also  the  Man  of  Joys^  abounding  in  a  deep,  iuAvard, 
inexhaustible  peace — a  peace  that  made  him  calm 
as  the  summer  morning  amidst  implacable  foes 
and  in  the  very  near  prospect  of  a  bitter  crucifix- 
ion? And  did  he  not  pass  up  to  heaven  in  the 
very  act  of  blessing  his  people  with  peace — his 
own  peace — in  the  very  attitude  of  benediction, 


THE    JOY    OF    god's    SALVATION.  271 

with  his  high-pviestly  hands  yet  extended  to  indi- 
cate that  this  was  the  office-work  he  would  cany 
on  in  glory — shedding  down  blessings  on  them, 
even  as  "  ivliile  he  blessed  them,  he  was  parted  from 
thein'  ? 

Whence  comes  it  that  the  world  Avill  shrink 
away  from  this  Gospel  oF  gkid  tidings  as  though 
it  were  had  tidings — decline  its  proposals  of  living 
pleasure  and  of  eternal  bliss  as  though  it  were  noth- 
ing but  privation,  sacrifice,  hardship,  tears,  and  ter- 
rors? Do  they  not  know  that  Jesus  came  on  earth 
to  restore  the  ruins  of  tlie  fall ;  to  drive  away  fam- 
ine and  disease  and  sorrow  as  Avell  as  sin,  which 
is  the  parent  of  them  all;  to  turn  our  water  into 
wine,  and  to  set  up  in  the  human  breast,  the  do- 
minion of  all  that  is  peaceful  and  blessed  forever  ? 

True,  there  is  self-denial  to  be  practised,  but  it 
is  only  the  denial  of  the  evil  self,  wdiere  the  in- 
dulgence w^ould  bring  pain,  or  lead  into  tempta- 
tion, and  work  alienation  from  God;  and  where  the 
denial  would  install  a  living,  permanent  pleasure 
in  the  soul.  And  so  it  does  occur,  that  where  tlie 
Prince  of  Peace  enthrones  himself  in  the  human 
bosom,  there  evil  passions  come  to  be  more  and 
more  hushed,  the  tumults  and  strifes  of  the  breast 
are  quieted,  and  all  the  faculties  are  reduced  to 
harmony;  and  the  soul,  at  peace  with  itself  and 
at  peace  Avith  God,  becomes  a  living  instrument 
all  in  tune,  discoursing  heavenly  music. 

Nor  is  it  by  any  means  a  mere  future  joy  which 
the  Gospel  preaches  and  which  we  offer  unto  men. 
So  they  imagine  it  to  be  who  think  it  is  enough 


272  THE   JOY    OF    god's    SALVATION. 

if  they  can  snatch  a  passport  to  heaven  at  the  dy- 
ing moment.  But  the  joy  is  meant  to  be  a  present 
reahty — now — every  moment  welling  up  within, 
and  only  at  length,  merging  into  eternal  relations 
and  projecting  itself  on  an  infinite  scale. 

Has  any  one  thought  that  the  joy  of  heaven  is 
a  mere  local  joy,  belonging  to  a  happy  place,  and 
that  you  could  just  enter  in  there  and  find  it — the 
melody  of  sweet  sounds,  the  charm  of  rapturous 
sights,  the  bliss  of  some  supernatural  ecstasy  into 
which  the  soul  is  taken  up  to  the  third  heaven  as 
in  a  trance?  And  do  you  mean,  then,  that  if  by 
some  peradventure,  Judas,  from  his  fiendish,  de- 
spairing death  could  just  have  gotten  entrance  at 
that  golden  gateway  he  would  have  been  made 
*' perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  God 
to  all  eternity?"     No.     No! 

Have  we  not  seen  that  you  may  take  a  man  from 
the  street  and  seat  him  down  amidst  the  festivi- 
ties of  the  most  joyous  circle  of  earth,  where  fond 
friends  are  full  of  loving  and  blissful  communion, 
and  every  element  of  earthly  pleasure  gushes  up 
there  to  the  brim  —  wealth,  beauty,  banqueting, 
music,  loving  tones  of  friendship — so  that  tlie  very 
air  of  the  halls  is  laden  with  the  rapture,  and  is 
that  stranger  happy  because  he  has  been  ushered 
in  there  ?  No.  No !  But  miserable,  just  because 
he  is  a  stranger,  just  in  proportion  to  the  contrast 
which  he  feels  in  himself  to  all  that  friendly  com- 
munion of  kindred  hearts.  He  is  as  much  already 
thrust  out  into  the  outer  darkness  as  though  he 
were  banished  from  the  brilliant  company.     Nay, 


THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  273 

it  wonkl  seem  even  a  relief  to  him  from  the  insuf- 
ferable brightness  and  from  the  gross  contradic- 
tion, if  he  could  but  be  turned  out  into  the  dark 
street  again.  That  was  Christ's  parable  of  the 
man  without  the  wedding  garment — of  the  guests 
out  of  place,  miserable.  Hence,  it  is  not  heaven 
as  a  _2^?ace  so  much  as  heaven  as  a  state  that  is  rep- 
resented to  us  in  the  Scriptures.  And  therefore,  it 
may  be,  God  has  not  chosen  to  tell  us  what  glori- 
ous planet  he  has  fitted  up  Avitli  the  many  man- 
sions, only  that  it  is  ivhere  Christ  is,  and  where  all 
the  good  and  blest  in  all  the  universe  shall  be  with 
him  forever. 

You  must  carry  heaven  within  you,  in  the  germ 
and  living  principle  at  least,  or  it  will  not  develop 
itself  under  any  heavenly  sky  or  any  celestial  in- 
fluence Avhatever.  While  it  is  all  of  grace  yet  it 
is  only  as  a  man  soiceth  heaven  that  he  shall  also 
reap  heaven.  It  is  not  the  joy  of  a  place  for  which 
the  l^salmist  prays  in  the  text.  It  is  the  joy  of 
God's  salvation. 

We  need  only  advert  to  some  of  the  commonest 
elements  of  this  Christian  joy  as  a  joy  in  God's 
salvation,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  it  reaches  far 
above  all  ordinary  sources  of  pleasure. 

The  joy  of  a  soul  at  joeace  ivitJmi,  its  own  dis- 
cordant principle-s  brought  into  harmony  with  all 
that  is  truly  blessed  in  the  universe,  having  its 
affinity  with  God,  seeking  its  pleasure  in  his  per- 
fections and  having  its  will  attuned  to  his — this, 
at  once,  takes  highest  ground  as  a  great  step 
heavenward,  and  gets  the  joy  already  as  a  life, 

18 


274  THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION. 

an  inward  principle,  a  quality  of  the  soul.  It  is 
no  longer  then  a  happening,  as  worldly  happiness, 
so  called,  most  commonly  is;  it  is  a  heing — a  bless- 
edness in  actual,  living  possession.  This  is  the 
first  joy  of  God's  salvation. 

And  then  there  is  the  joy  of  p)cirdo7ied  sin.  You 
have  only  to  contrast  this  with  the  tortures  of  an 
accushig  conscience  and  you  may  know  what  is 
the  blessedness  of  "the  man  whose  iniquities  are 
forgiven  and  whose  sin  is  covered";  who  has  heard 
the  blissful  sentence  as  from  the  very  lips  of  Christ 
— "Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee.     Go  in  peace." 

This  is  not  the  altogether  doubting  and  doubt- 
ful exercise  which  commonly  passes  current  as  the 
Christian  hope,  with  nothing  fixed,  nothing  confi- 
dent, and  hence,  no  rest  to  the  soul,  no  love,  be- 
cause no  assurance  of  Christ's  love — no  joy  nor 
peace,  because  no  security;  but  it  is  the  sense  of 
pardon  as  a  fad  founded  on  the  great  facts  re- 
vealed in  the  Gospel  gmd  surely  ascertained  to  us 
in  the  record  which  God  hath  given  of  his  Son — 
"  And  this  is  the  record  that  God  hath  given  to  us, 
eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son  ..... 
that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have  eternal  life." 
Unto  them  that  believe  Christ  is  precious,  and 
they  to  whom  Christ  is  precious,  they  are  true 
believers.  The  apostle  says:  "We  joy  in  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  whom  we  have 
now  received  the  atonement."  It  is  no  self-joy, 
no  flattering  self-gratulation  in  frames  and  exer- 
cises that  are  counted  acceptable  to  God.  The 
object  is  outside  of  self. 


THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  275 

This  is  a  high  feUcity  to  such  that  sends  one 
singing  to  his  daily  business  and  even  to  the  com- 
mon hardsliips  of  hfe,  that  emboldens  one  to  lift 
his  face  toward  the  heaven  and  to  rejoice  in  God, 
that  quenches  a  thousand  nameless  heartburnings, 
distresses,  doubts,  and  banishes  a  world  of  fears. 

This  is  no  mere  future  thing,  beginning  only  in 
the  remote  hereafter,  postponed  till  eternity  as  the 
fruit  of  a  life  without  joy  or  peace.  No !  It  sets 
the  heart,  at  once,  leaping  and  bounding  in  the 
consciousness  of  pardon.  It  is  not  rest  alone — nor 
peace  alone.  It  is  all  these  and  more.  It  is  a 
well-spring  of  active,  exulting  joy! 

And  so,  thirdly,  there  is  the  positive  abounding 
joy  of  the  Christian  life. 

Think  for  a  moment  Avhat  is  the  legitimate  bless- 
edness of  such  a  new  and  heavenly  nature  in  the 
active  service  of  God — calling  God  Father,  mov- 
ing in  sympathy  Avitli  the  highest  good,  and  enter- 
ing already  into  the  joy  of  Christ  himself,  each 
becoming  in  his  sphere  a  Saviour.  This  is  it — 
"  Not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  My 
peace  I  leave  with  you" — the  peace  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace — "  that  my  joy  might  remain  in  you  " — 
the  joy  of  the  exulting,  victorious  Eedeemer,  tri- 
umphing over  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil 
and  entering  into  his  rest. 

And  then  the  joy  of  Christian  trust.  The  per- 
fect peace  of  a  mind  that  is  stayed  on  God,  the 
peace  flowing  like  a  river,  with  an  interest  in  a 
covenant  "ordered  in  all  things  and  sure,"  certified 
of  all  things  working  together  for  good,  guaran- 


276  THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION. 

teed  against  all  real  evil  even  Avhere  there  may  be 
the  threatening  of  it  and  the  seeming  of  it,  as- 
sured beforehand  of  never  having  any  real  good 
thing  withheld ;  though  poverty  may  come  and  be- 
reavement, yea,  death  itself,  yet  by  all  the  divine 
attributes,  as  God  is  able  to  control  all  elements 
and  resources,  warranted  against  the  lack  of  any 
real  benefit  or  blessing  whatever — this  is  another 
element  of  the  Christian  joy.  Though  the  trouble 
be  great,  though  it  be  the  sum  of  all  trouble  in 
one,  yet  staying  the  soul  on  God,  equally  as  in 
small  troubles — in  six  not  only,  but  in  seven — 
confident  that  Christ  can  bear  our  great  burdens 
as  well  as  our  small  ones,  just  as  the  ocean  bears 
on  its  bosom  the  stateliest  ship  as  easily  as  the 
light  sea -weed,  just  as  the  sun  bathes  with  its 
golden  glory  the  huge  mountains  as  easily  as  the 
mole-hill. 

And  then,  this  living  in  the  atmosphere  of  Chris- 
tian love,  this  must  needs  be  a  joyous  living — a 
most  enriching  method  indeed,  by  which  others' 
joy  is  entered  into  and  rejoiced  in  and  made  our 
own,  and  so  the  vast  amount  accumulates,  by  this 
power  of  reduplication,  until  there  is  absolutely  no 
limit  to  which  the  mighty  aggregate  can  be  con- 
fined, but  the  soul  has  seemed  to  enter  into  the  joy 
of  every  other  happy  ransomed  soul,  and  has  risen 
even  to  share  the  joy  of  the  great  Ransomer  himself. 

What  wonder  that  such  an  one  attains,  under 
God,  to  the  sublime  power  of  rejoicing  in  tribula- 
tions also!  That  seems  only  a  rude  act  of  violence 
where  the  bow  is  drawn  over  the  cords  of  the 


THE  JOY   OF  god's   SALVATION.  277 

stringed  instrument.  But  then  you  see  the  artist 
with  the  other  liand  quietly  touching  the  several 
chords  as  if  knowing  just  wliere  the  music  hes. 
And  this  brings  forth  from  the  mysterious  depths 
the  most  exquisite  melodies,  even  under  the  rough- 
est sweeping  of  the  strings. 

And  then,  not  only  to  be  living  in  the  constant 
sense  of  pardon  and  deliverance,  but  beaming  in 
the  smiles  of  God,  and  sharing  in  the  felicity  of  an- 
gels' work,  and  looking  forward  all  the  while  to 
this  pleasure  in  perfection — the  holiness  without  a 
spot,  the  blessedness  without  a  limit  or  interrup- 
tion forever — this  is  the  Christian's  joy.  All  this 
and  more  is  comprised  in  the  joy  of  God's  salva- 
tion. All  joy  of  earth  does  merely  hint  of  this  and 
somehow  image  it  forth.  It  is  the  joy  of  infancy 
reposing  on  the  parental  bosom,  the  joy  of  youth- 
ful ardor  and  vigor  in  a  glad  service,  the  joy  of 
the  student  solving  his  problems  and  drinking  in 
knowledge  to  the  depths,  the  joy  of  the  merchant 
buying  wine  and  milk  without  money — seeking 
and  finding  goodly  pearls,  the  joy  of  the  soldier 
covered  all  over  with  the  laurels  of  daily  victories, 
the  joy  of  the  shipwrecked  mariner  picked  up  from 
the  boiling  deep  and  riding  beautifully  into  port, 
the  joy  of  the  prodigal  son  welcomed  home. 

And  now,  I  say,  all  this  exulting,  abounding  joy 
belongs  of  right  to  every  believer,  as  a  rightful 
partaker  of  God's  salvation.  It  is  a  blissful  experi- 
ence that  he  is  warranted  and  invited  to  enter  into. 

But  while  I  say  this,  I  Imow  full  well  that  many 
have  it  only  in  a  very  inferior  degree.     They  have 


278  THE  JOY    OF   god's   SALVATION. 

never  as  yet  read  properly  the  Gospel  warrant,  and, 
thereibre,  they  have  not  entered  into  the  full  sat- 
isfaction. As  if  one  had  his  warrant  to  draw  a 
milhon  pounds  and  had  read  it  as  being  only  for 
others  and  not  for  himself,  or  for  himself  only  on 
some  impossible  condition,  or  only  in  some  other 
frame  and  experience;  or  as  if  he  had  read  it  as 
being  for  a  hundred  pence  instead  of  for  a  million 
pounds  and,  therefore,  had  gone  starving  in  the 
very  lap  of  privilege — rich,  but  not  knowing  the 
full  fads  of  his  heritage  and,  therefore,  not  abound- 
ing in  the  joy. 

So,  I  know,  there  are  others,  and  many  of  them, 
who  have  once  been  possessors  of  this  joy,  but  have 
lost  it. 

Look  at  this  language  of  the  text !  Here  is  the 
man  after  God's  own  heart,  contemplating  for  him- 
self a  work  of  aggressive  piety  in  the  world,  but 
his  soul  is  paralyzed  and  his  path  is  darkened  by 
sin.  How  can  he  preach  peace  to  others  when  his 
own  breast  is  not  at  peace !  How  can  he  celebrate 
the  glad  salvation  when  his  iniquity,  like  a  spec- 
tre, rises  up  before  him,  and  confronts  him  at  every 
step !  How  many  a  sublime  and  joyous  psalm 
has  he  sung  in  glowing  numbers,  rehearsing  God's 
praises  in  the  ear  of  the  worldling  and  wayward ! 
But  his  mouth  is  silenced  now  to  all  this !  He  has 
sinned!  And  now,  he  can  only  wail  out  his  bitter 
relentings  into  the  ear  of  the  God  whom  he  has 
Avronged.  The  world  scoffs  at  him  and  will  take 
no  warning  at  his  lips.  What  can  he  do  ?  Pie 
would  fain  teach  transgressors  God's  ways,  but  he 


THE   JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  279 

himself  is  now  a  transgressor.  What  must  he  have 
for  this  aggressive  piety  on  earth  ?  What  element 
of  Christian  life  is  it  that  he  most  intensely  craves 
and  for  which  he  cries  out  in  the  agony  of  his 
soul  ?  It  is  joy — Christian  joy — the  joy  of  Gods 
salvation!  How  can  the  blackened  prism  reflect 
the  sun-ray?  But  only  let  it  be  dear,  so  that 
God's  own  light  can  enter  into  it  and  penetrate 
its  whole  substance,  and  then,  from  every  side 
and  angle  of  its  surface,  it  will  give  out  from  its 
crystal  depths  not  only  the  light,  but  that  light 
divided  and  distributed  in  all  the  beauteous  colors 
of  the  rainbow. 

I  know  not  what  was  the  style  of  your  first  love, 
or  your  early  joy  in  God — but  lohere  is  it,  even 
such  as  you  then  had?  What  has  quenched  it 
that  you  now  have  lost  the  bounding  step  and 
eager  purpose  and  go  no  longer  singing  to  your 
daily  duties  in  the  blessedness  of  God's  salvation? 
It  may  be  some  secret  sin  that  is  slowly  eating 
out  the  life  of  your  piety.  It  may  be  that  this  is 
why  you  have  no  open,  cheerful,  outspoken  utter- 
ance for  Christ — that  you  have  cherished  some  vile 
passion,  or  have  omitted  daily  Christian  devotions, 
or  have  absented  yourself  from  the  places  of  spirit- 
ual refreshing,  and  thus  you  may  have  wilfully  lost 
all  sweet  and  holy  communion  with  God.  I  only 
know  tliat,  for  the  most  part,  such  a  joyous,  exult- 
ant piety  is  sadly  lacking  from  among  us.  Your 
faces  are  lighted  up  with  other  and  fickle  pleas- 
ures, rather  than  irradiated  all  the  year  long  with 
this  glory  of  the  divine  life  in  the  soul. 


280  THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION. 

Come  up  now  and  understand  your  privilege. 
You  own  every  thing  in  Christ  if  you  own  any 
thing  in  him.  If  you  are  a  Christian,  then  all 
things  are  yours — the  world  is  yours,  life  is  yours, 
death  is  yours,  things  present  are  yours,  things 
to  come  are  yours.  And  if  you  are  not  a  Chris- 
tian, nothing  is  yours,  nothing.  Only  wake  up  to 
consider  what  you  might  have,  ought  to  have, 
must  have,  to  enter  fully  into  the  great  salvation, 
and  then  come  up  to  the  mercy-seat  asking  to  get 
hack  what  you  have  shamefully  lost — that  heav- 
enly transport  that  once  was  yours,  that  luxury  in 
doing  good,  that  peace  flowing  like  a  river,  that 
joy  in  God,  that  glorying  in  tribulations  even,  and 
that  bright  and  blessed  earnest  of  heaven.  Ask 
to  get  it  back.  You  need  it — you  can  have  it!  It 
is  only  the  son  asking  for  his  father's  bread  and 
bounty,  as  he  comes  in,  sick  of  the  husks. 

If  it  be  indeed  some  master  sin  that  has  enslaved 
you,  that  has  made  the  precious  promises  distaste- 
ful and  heaven  itself  to  you  no  longer  as  a  prize  to 
be  gained,  or  a  crown  to  be  won ;  if  you  are  just 
sitting,  as  the  son  of  such  a  Parent,  satisfied  among 
the  swine,  there  is  yet  left  to  you  this  one  grand 
resource — the  Father's  house  and  lieart.  You  are 
a  son,  even  though  a  prodigal  son,  and  you  have 
just  to  be  up  and  return,  with  your  soul  full  of 
confessions,  and  you  shall  yet  be  received  to  that 
Father's  bosom  as  a  son  and  be  welcomed  to  the 
son's  share  in  the  Father  s  bread  and  bounty. 

And,  already  you  are  anticipating  the  change 
which  such  abounding  Christian  joy  would  work 


THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  281 

in  your  daily  living.  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your 
strength.  How  it  would  needs  show  itself  as  a  vital 
force^  prompting  you  to  a  bold  and  joyous  profes- 
sion of  Christ  in  all  your  living,  and  lifting  your 
banner  to  the  breeze — not  ashamed  of  Jesus,  not 
backward  but  forward  in  duty,  not  listless  but  jubi- 
lant in  the  proper  aggression  of  the  church  upon 
tlie  world,  like  a  triumphant  banner — doing  just 
Avliat  you  have  so  egregiously  omitted  in  the  proper 
publishing  of  his  Gospel  to  fellow-sinners. 

For  such  a  brimming  joy  would  be  in  itself  a 
Gospel  sermon.  That  sunshine  of  the  soul  would 
reflect  from  a  thousand  points  the  sun.  It  would 
sit  on  the  face  like  a  beam  of  glory  from  the  skies. 
It  would  lift  up  its  banner  inscribed  with  the  name 
of  a  covenant  God.  So  it  would  march  to  every 
new  conflict,  rejoicing  in  the  Captain  of  Salvation. 
It  would  sing  out,  in  the  bounding  step,  full  many 
a  gentle,  gracious  Gospel  message,  and  would  go 
to  others  as  melting  music  wliere  you  might  not 
speak  a  Avord. 

The  silent,  unconscious  influence  of  such  a  heav- 
en-lit life  is  powerful.  It  is  often  more  than  argu- 
ment. It  is  the  mute  testimony,  like  that  which  the 
stars  give  to  the  power  and  love  of  their  Creator, 

"Forever  singing  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  that  made  us  is  divine." 

I  have  seen  it  —  where  a  Chnstian  man  has 
walked  the  street  with  his  head  erect  and  his 
countenance  aglow  with  a  cheerful  piety,  seeming 
to  go  shining  and  singing,  like  the  sun  in  his  daily 


282  THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION. 

course,  and  I  have  taken  that  to  be  a  living  dem- 
onstration which  no  sophistry  can  break  down  or 
dare  dispute.  I  know  not  how  else  the  face  of 
dying  Stephen  was  sunny  and  beaming,  "  as  it  had 
been  the  face  of  an  angel,"  unless  it  were  by  this 
radiance  and  glow  of  the  martyr  joy  that  already 
sat  upon  his  brow. 

And  then,  you  need  to  crave  also  the  upliolding 
of  God's/ree  Spirit^  that  sweetly  stirring  agency  in 
the  human  bosom  which,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
makes  the  soul  buoyant  with  a  conscious  freedom 
and  gives  it  alacrity  for  every  good  work,  freely 
upbears  it  from  all  stumbling.  God's  free  Spirit 
which  is  in  utter  contradiction  to  the  spirit  of 
bondage  and  fear — a  spirit  of  filial  confidence  and 
filial  love  that  can  not  be  hampered  by  doubts  and 
restraints,  but  plants  itself  in  the  facts  of  Christ's 
finished  work,  and  walks  at  liberty  —  free  as  air, 
this  you  must  crave  as  the  living  source  and  sus- 
tainer  of  your  joy,  that  you  may  not  fall  any  more 
into  the  bondage  of  some  evil  passion,  or  of  some 
foul  accusation  of  Satan,  but  may  stand  fast  in  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  you  free,  and 
daily  go  forth  to  duty  as  the  freedman  of  Jesus 
Christ — for,  "where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there 
is  liberty,"  and  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit — that  which 
it  brings  forth  in  the  Christian  heart  and  life,  as 
naturally  as  the  vine  brings  forth  its  clusters— the 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace. 

And,  secondly:  Such  an  abounding  joy  will  nat- 
nralty  express  itself  in  word  and  action — "Out  of 
the  abundance  of  the  heart,  the  mouth  speaketh;" 


THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  283 

and  one  who  is  revelling  in  the  divine  pleasures 
-will  needs  make  it  known. 

This  inward  pressure,  this  divine  and  loving  con- 
straint, will  set  one  publishing  the  Gospel  to  those 
who  also  might  be  gladdened  by  the  good  news. 
This  Gospel  makes  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  sing. 
And  the  singing  becomes  an  eloquent  proclaiming 
of  the  message,  in  the  very  style  of  the  angels; 
not  prosy,  not  gloomy,  but  joj^ous;  not  harsh,  but 
melodious. 

This  was  probably  the  strain  in  which  the  mul- 
titude broke  out  in  that  remarkable  gift  of  tongues 
at  Pentecost  —  all  reciting  in  high  and  jubilant 
measures  the  Avonderfal  works  of  God.  And,  Avhile 
their  full  souls  exulted  in  the  praises  of  his  life  and 
death  and  resurrection  and  ascension,  that  Gospel 
song  carried  with  it  a  double  power  with  the  hear- 
ers. It  was  their  testimony,  and  it  was  t\\Qiv  joyous 
testimony.  It  was  tidings — it  was  glad  tidings, 
and  it  was  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  rehearsed  by 
glad  tongues. 

And  it  Avould  seem  that  these  joyous  demon- 
strations are  what  the  church  may  look  for  again, 
and  at  once,  as  the  signs  of  the  Spirit's  work  and 
the  means  of  his  further  working.  And  men  shall 
come  together  again,  at  such  outbursts  of  God's 
people,  and  say:  "How  hear  we  every  man  in  our 
own  tongue  in  which  we  were  born,  declaring  the 
wonderful  works  of  God." 

Ah!  It  is  the  dull,  sluggish,  heavy  tone  of  for- 
mal prayer  and  praise  that  makes  the  testimony 
powerless.     We   do  not   abound   as  we  ought   in 


284  THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION. 

praises — private,  domestic,  social,  public  praises  of 
God.  The  "  liosaiinas  languish  on  our  tongues 
and  our  devotion  dies."  And  then,  what  Avonder 
that  tlie  highest  doctrine  palls  on  the  ear  of  the 
multitude,  and  the  Aveightiest  truth  caATies  no  con- 
viction at  our  lips?  Are  we  aiming  to  be  only 
^'•proper''  Christians,  when  souls  of  men  are  at 
stake?  Is  it  only  the  genteel  air  and  manner  of 
devotion  that  we  seek,  afraid  to  venture  a  word 
with  a  perishing  fellow-sinner  aside  from  the  rule 
of  propriety  we  have  laid  down  for  ourselves?  As 
though  the  command  of  God  to  us  were  just  to 
make  as  little  stir  as  possible  Avith  our  religion, 
and  to  tell  no  man  of  him!  As  though  the  oath 
by  Avhich  we  had  bound  ourselves  in  the  church 
aisle  were  an  oath  to  keep  the  profoundest  secrecy, 
lest  this  rich  mine  of  God's  treasure  might  be  dug 
by  too  many. 

Give  us  the  abounding  joy,  as  a  new  baptism  of 
the  church,  this  holy  anointing  Avith  the  oil  of  the 
guest  chamber  and  the  banquet  of  Christ,  and  then 
the  publisher  Avill  go  forth — they  can  not  help  it 
— -just  as  the  Avhole  array  of  the  starry  heavens,  as 
they  go  out  on  their  bright  and  gladsome  courses, 
go  singing  as  they  shine;  just  as  all  the  daughters 
of  music  that  throng  the  forest,  AA'hile  they  sing 
out  their  own  joys,  are  publishing  God's  goodness 
and  glory  in  the  spring-time. 

And  so,  finally:  this  abounding  Christian  joy 
AA-ill  give  a  freeness  and  freshness  and  heartiness 
in  the  divine  service.  Trammels,  hindrances,  re- 
straints will  be  broken   through.     The   soul   that 


THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  285 

has  been  long  shiggisli  and  conld  not  move  in 
any  work  of  evangelizing  others,  Avill  take  to  the 
wing  and  rise  above  all  common  barriers. 

It  is  time  to  have  done  Avith  the  cold  constraint 
of  mere  law  and  duty  in  the  divine  service.  There 
mnst  be  a  higher,  nobler  impulse  if  we  would 
please  God  or  prevail  with  men.  We  need  to 
feel  the  stimulus  of  Christ's  love  to  us,  witli  all 
its  overpowering  force.  We  live  too  near  the  day 
of  glorious  revelation,  we  border  too  closely  upon 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  the  coming  in 
of  the  full  and  eternal  salvation,  to  be  utterl}^  hold- 
ing our  peace.  We  need  now  to  be  catching  the 
animation  of  the  other  side,  to  be  hearing  the 
music  of  the  celestial  city,  as  we  near  the  shores, 
"for  now  is  our  salvation  nearer  than  when  we 
believed." 

And  many  of  us  have  lived  long  enough  at  ease, 
and  idle  in  the  church,  if  we  are  ever  to  do  any 
good  and  great  thing  for  God  and  for  souls.  I 
know  no  other  remedy  for  all  the  shameful  dul- 
ness  and  apathy  of  tlie  time  than  just  to  get  back, 
at  least,  the  joy  of  God's  salvation  that  we  once 
had,  and  then  to  get  it  increased  till  it  shall  be 
full  to  the  brim  and  overrunning — the  joy  that 
belongs  of  right  to  the  salvation  in  every  case — 
and  then  you,  yourselves,  can  well  imagine  with 
what  alacrity,  cheerfulness  and  zest  you  Avould  go 
singing  out  your  testimony  to  the  power  of  God's 
grace.  And  the  glad  hosannas  w^ould  no  more  lan- 
guish on  your  tongue,  and  then  your  labor  witli 
others  would  be  a  shining  success.     Sinners  would 


286  THE  JOY   OF  god's   SALVATION. 

throng  to  join  the  bannered  ranks,  they  would  be 
2yrofessing  Christ,  as  they  are  not  now,  while  no 
song  is  on  your  lips,  no  sunlight  on  your  counte- 
nance, no  singing  in  your  step,  no  banners  lifted 
up  in  triumph,  and  no  music  in  your  heart  and  life. 
They  would  come  flocking  around  your  standard, 
longing  to  enter  into  your  joy  and  into  your  ser- 
vice of  song,  and  to  be  sharers  with  you  of  the 
(jreat  salvation.  Your  life  would  accost  them  as  a 
hymn  of  praise  to  Christ,  ten  thousand  times  more 
melodious  and  winning  than  all  the  most  ravish- 
ing arts  of  formal  worship.  It  is  in  such  a  glad 
array  that  the  church  would  go  forth,  "clear  as 
the  sun,  fair  as  the  moon,  and  terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners."  And  this  would  be  the  glad  work- 
ing. You  would  be  telling  your  joys  and  others 
would  be  asking  after  the  like  joys  for  themselves. 
They  that  hear  jou  singing,  in  all  the  round  of 
your  living  devotions — "Nearer  my  God  to  thee," 
Avill  echo  the  strain,  "nearer  to  thee." 

And  now,  my  bretliren,  consider  in  this  light, 
the  duty  of  Christian  joy. 

You  tliink  of  it  as  a  rare  privilege  which  you  are 
denied,  which  belongs  perhaps  only  to  the  far-off 
heights  of  Christian  advancement,  where  they  get 
upon  the  last  round  of  the  ladder  and  step  on  the 
threshold  of  heaven.  But  heaven  is  not  a  definite 
distance  off,  like  the  sun  or  moon.  You  can  bring 
it  as  near  as  you  will.  But  you  do  not  apply  your- 
selves to  the  duty  of  heavenly  joy.  And  so  you 
go,  getting  only  at  best  tlie  occasional  thrill  of  a 
pleasm-e  which  is  your  lawful  heritage.     And  so 


THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION.  287 

you  are  cramped  in  3-our  activities  and  cold  in 
your  devotions.  AVould  you  not  already  begin  the 
celestial  anthem,  "^Yorthy  is  the  Lamb,  that  was 
slain  ?  " 

In.  the  economy  of  grace,  God's  children  are 
commanded  to  go  along,  singing  to  their  daily 
Avork.  Even  the  martyrs  go  to  the  stake  hymn- 
ing the  praises  of  their  Redeemer.  And  it  is  Satan 
Avho  tells  you  that  if  you  are  a  Christian  you  have 
no  right  to  smile  and  be  buoyant.  And  just  by 
such  a  foul  falsehood  he  cuts  the  nerves  of  your 
exertion.  Christian  joy  seeks  expression  in  Chris- 
tian work,  and  the  work  again  brings  revenues 
of  joy,  and  this  constitutes  the  bright  circles  in 
which  the  Christian  goes  through  his  round  of 
duty.  And  so,  along  all  the  ranks  of  Christ's  army, 
goes  the  command — "Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always; 
and  again  I  say,  rejoice." 

Why  shoukl  not  the  church,  even  while  it  is  mil- 
itant, lift  up  her  standard  in  the  name  of  her  cove- 
nant God,  and  peal  out  her  stirring  music  as  a  glad 
testimony  of  the  glad  tidings,  instead  of  marching, 
like  a  captive  host,  Avith  arms  reversed  and  drums 
muffled  and  banners  trailing  in  the  dust?  Shall  I 
say,  God  asks  for  a  revenue  of  glory  from  the  re- 
joicings of  his  children?  And  Jesus  pronounced 
his  blessing  upon  the  infant  voices  Avhen  they 
made  the  old  temple  ring  with  his  praises.  To 
him  one  such  burst  of  hosannas  was  more  than  all 
the  majestic  orchestra  of  the  temple.  That,  he 
said,  is  praise  perfected  out  of  the  mouth  of  babes 
— that  is  strength  ordained  from  lips  of  sucklings, 


288  THE  JOY   OF   god's   SALVATION. 

that  has  power  to  still  the  enemy  and  the  avenger 
more  than  an  armed  host. 

The  more  we  drink  the  cup  of  Christian  joy,  the 
more  do  we  obey  the  divine  injunction.  And  this 
at  once  sends  us  on  our  way  publishing  the  great 
salvation  just  by  giving  expression  to  the  joy  of 
that  salvation.  So  that  the  work  of  the  Christian 
life  is  essentially  cheerful  and,  so  far  from  being 
a  drudgery,  it  is  not  only  a  luxury,  but  a  high 
necessity. 


XVII. 

EVERY   MAN   HIS   OWN   BUILDER. 

"If  any  man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he 
shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he 
shall  suffer  loss:  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved;  yet  so  as  by  fire." 
—I  Cor.  iii.  14-15. 

Every  man  is  a  builder,  whether  he  will  or  not. 
Some  fabric  he  is  erecting  busily,  clay  by  day,  at 
all  seasons  and  by  all  means.  He  is  laying  his 
hand  to  a  work  of  some  sort,  and  silently  and 
steadily  it  goes  up  to  its  completion — the  result 
of  all  his  thought  and  all  his  activity,  the  expres- 
sion of  all  his  character. 

Noah  was  the  builder  of  an  ark,  according  to  the 
divine  direction,  which  was  to  be  his  ark  of  refuge 
and  his  home  of  safety  to  outride  the  deluge  of 
God's  wrath.  By  that  work,  it  is  said,  he  con- 
demned the  world  of  foolisli  builders  and  false 
builders  Avho  rear  no  ark  for  eternity. 

The  Psalmist  celebrates  the  coming  Messiah  as 
the  stone  Avhich  the  builders  refused  and  wliich 
was  to  become  the  head  of  the  corner — the  chief 
corner-stone  in  the  true  temple  of  God.  And  then, 
further,  Jesus  is  declared  by  the  prophets  to  be  a 
stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner-stone,  a  sure 
19 


290  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

foundation  for  every  man  to  build  upon  for  eter- 
nity. And  then,  Avhen  Jesus  himself  came,  he 
spake  a  parable  to  show  the  consummate  wisdom 
of  building  one's  house  upon  a  rock,  because  that 
house  is  to  comprise  a  man's  dearest  interests,  it 
is  to  be  the  sacred  enclosure  of  his  home.  The 
hearth-stone  of  his  domestic  life  is  to  be  there,  the 
circle  of  his  children.  And  by  all  that  there  is 
centred,  of  most  surpassing  value  to  him,  must  be 
the  arrant  folly  of  building  his  house  upon  the 
sand. 

A  day  of  trial  is  coming,  my  brethren.  It  can 
not  always  be  sunshine  and  peace.  There  must 
be  also  stormy  tests  and  fiery  tribulations.  Tem- 
pests will  blow  that  will  rock  the  building  to  its 
base.  Fires  Avill  burn  that  shall  consume  all  that 
is  combustible  about  it. 

The  apostle  is  speaking,  in  the  text,  of  the  differ- 
ent structures  which  men  may  erect  upon  the  one 
only  true  foundation.  .^ 

lie  is  speaking,  primarily,  of  ministerial  huiVders, 
whose  function  it  is  to  set  before  men  the  one  only 
foundation  for  them  to  build  upon,  or,  as  under 
workmen  to  carry  up  different  parts  of  the  great 
spiritual  temple  in  the  world.  They  may  build 
into  the  wall,  he  says,  various  materials  of  doc- 
trine or  of  membership — either  the  precious  gold 
and  silver  and  the  splendid  stones  of  porphyry  and 
jasper  such  as  form  the  foundations  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  or  they  may  build  into  it  the  merest 
rubbish  of  error  and  of  false  profession,  which  the 
fire  will  utterly  consume. 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  291 

But  the  principle  applies  no  less  to  church  mem- 
bers than  to  ministers,  no  less  to  private  build- 
ers and  buildings  than  to  public  ones.  Individual 
Christians  may  be  building  various  structures  even 
npon  the  same  Jesus  Christ  as  a  foundation.  This 
is  also  the  teaching  of  the  text. 

Firsf,  then,  Ave  learn  that  it  is  not  enough  for  a 
man  to  have  his  hope  in  Jesus  Christ. 

One  must  build  npon  him  to  get  the  advantage 
of  the  foundation  Avhich  he  is,  to  be  resting  npon 
no  other.  This  is  rather  a  negative  thing.  To  be 
resting  one's  hope  upon  Christ  so  far  as  one  has 
any  hope,  this  is  not  enough.  Is  there,  in  such 
case,  any  hope  at  all,  properly  so  called — under- 
stood as  compounded  of  desire  and  of  expectation 
also?  Many  an  one  in  the  church  has  no  hope,  be- 
cause that  which  he  calls  a  hope  has  no  element  in 
it  of  expectancy.  It  sets  its  telescope  to  no  glorious 
world  of  light ;  it  deals  with  no  daily  evidence  and 
has  no  habitual  substantiation  of  the  things  hoped 
for,  as  a  true  faith  is  wont  to  substantiate  them. 
You  might  say  that  such  an  one  has  Christ  fol* 
his  foundation,  but  for  the  foundation  of  lohat? 
No  building  is  seen  going  up  and  daily  develop- 
ing its  Christian  proportions  under  the  workman's 
hand. 

AYhat  then?  This  foundation,  which  is  Jesus 
Christ,  is  not  alone  the  doctrine  of  Christ  as  tlie 
^lessiah,  nor  is  it  alone  even  the  doctrine  of  his 
finished  work;  much  less  is  it  a  mere  church  con- 
nection. It  is  ail  this  and  more.  It  is  the  ^^er- 
sonal^  living  Jesus  Christ  himself,  just  as  he  claims 


/ 
292  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

to  be  the  personal,  living  Way^  and  the  personal, 
living  Truth,  and  the  very  personal  Life  itself. 
And  so  it  is  not  possible  to  have  this  foundation 
Ijdng  idle  and  unoccupied,  as  you  may  see  some 
deserted  foundation  that  lies  awaiting  for  a  long 
time  its  superstructure,  and  so  is  wasting  away 
inider  the  power  of  the  elements  and  going  to 
dilapidation.  No  !  Jesus  can  not  be  such  a  foun- 
dation, just  because  he  is  a  personal,  living  fovuida- 
tion — as  a  vine  can  not  be  for  long  years  without  a 
branch,  because  it  is  a  living  vine.  It  is  a  foun- 
dation that  "groweth  unto  a  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord." 

Observe,  secondly:  Jesus  Christ  is  to  serve  a  man 
as  a  foundation  to  his  building. 

The  first  question  is,  as  to  whether  he  will  build 
on  the  rock  Christ  Jesus,  or  on  some  shifting  sand ; 
whether  he  will  carry  up  his  life-long  work  on  the 
solid  basis  of  Christ's  finished  work,  or  whether  lie 
will  choose  some  sea-beach  for  his  location,  Avhere 
the  dashing  surf  shall  rise  and  sweep  aAvay  both 
the  house  and  the  foundation  itself  He  can  not 
escape  being  a  builder,  and  here  is  the  gracious 
provision — to  have  this  massive,  immovable  foun- 
dation-work all  ready  to  one's  hand,  all  its  outline 
determining  the  ground  plan  of  the  structure — 
tower  and  buttress  and  doorway — all  marked  out, 
so  as  that  he  has  only  to  follow  the  base-line  in 
carr^dng  up  the  walls,  and  then  to  have  the  pre- 
cious corner-stone  binding  together  the  walls  them- 
selves that  rest  upon  it. 

And,   if  lie    have   even    chosen   Christ  to  build 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  293 

upon,  then  it  is  still  for  him  to  take  heed  lioio 
he  builds  upon  him.  For,  still,  the  superstructure 
may  be  very  inappropriate  to  the  foundation.  The 
man  may  dream  that  all  is  well  if  he  put  up  any 
worthless  fabric  upon  so  goodly  a  base,  or  if  he 
put  up  none  at  all.  But  the  fabric  ouglit  to  be 
such  an  one  as  is  worthy  of  the  base,  else  it  Avill 
stand  condemned  by  it.  The  foundation  is  given 
him  not  to  dispense  with  his  own  labor,  but  just 
to  invite  his  labor  upon  such  a  noble  ground-work ; 
not  to  be  all  the  work,  but  the  fundamental  part 
of  the  work.  And  so  the  edifice  is  to  rise  under 
the  builder's  hand  as  a  Christian  fabric,  in  all  its 
beautiful  and  comely  proportions ;  always  outlined 
and  stayed  and  supported  by  this  living,  substan- 
tial foundation,  which  is  Christ  Jesus. 

Who  can  estimate  the  grace  that  presents  to 
ever}^  man  such  an  advantage  of  grounding  him- 
self upon  Jesus,  upon  his  perfect  merit,  upon  his 
finished  work,  so  that  he  may  have  his  house  go 
up  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages — sure  of  standing  firm 
amidst  the  flood  and  unshaken  by  the  wreck  of  the 
globe.  Think  of  having  it  freely  granted  to  a  poor 
sinner  to  build  upon  him  whose  goings  forth  have 
been  from  of  old — from  everlasting.  And  then  to 
build  after  his  pattern  and  model  so  as  to  have  the 
building  shaped  and  outlined  by  his  own  human 
example. 

And  then,  further,  to  feel  that  he  has  a  plan  fin- 
each  of  us.  So  that  he  stands  the  supervisor  and 
architect  of  our  own  personal  structure,  and  his 
great  thoughts  of  love  are  daily  working  iu  prov- 


294  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER 

idence  to  guide  and  shape  the  fabric  that  is  going 
up  under  our  hands  as  our  hie-work  I'or  eternity. 

And,  then,  to  have  his  finished  work  that  was 
laid  deeply  in  the  counsels  of  Godhead  serve  us 
not  only  as  the  substratum,  but  also  as  the  crown 
of  glory  of  our  work.  All  that  work  of  toil  and 
suffering  and  tears  and  blood  to  build  upon  and 
glory  in,  from  base  to  topstone  of  our  edifice;  all 
that  precious,  gracious  work  which  he  became  in- 
carnate to  accomplish,  and  whose  history  is  writ- 
ten in  this  Gospel  of  grace;  to  have  it  all  made 
yours  and  mine — to  be  applied  most  freely — all  his 
building  made  our  building,  as  if  it  were  our  own 
handiwork,  when  its  perfection  and  stability  and 
everlasting  worth  are  such  as  that  all  the  angels 
could  never  have  achieved  it. 

And,  then,  to  know,  of  a  surety  that  building 
upon  Christ  you  are  certain  of  your  foundation 
standing  firm,  even  though  3'our  poor  tenement 
which  you  built  should  be  swept  aAvay  by  the 
flood  or  wrapt  in  the  final  conflagration.  Oh ! 
This  is  infinite  grace,  that  should  induce  a  man 
— every  man — to  build  upon  this  Rock  of  Ages, 
whatever  else  he  does,  or  fails  to  do;  and  how 
poorly  soever  he  may  have  built  upon  it. 

And  noAV,  observe,  thirdly:  It  is  possible  even 
for  a  Christian  man  to  build  upon  this  goodly  foun- 
dation the  merest  rubbish.  AYe  speak  now  as  to 
the  material. 

Take  the  whole  class  of  careless,  inanimate, 
secular,  worldly  Christians,  where  your  charity 
stretches  itself  to  the  utmost  limit  in  order  to  take 


EVERY    MAN     HIS    OWN     BUILDER.  295 

them  in — the  whole  crowd  of  border  Christians, 
negative,  hikewarm,  luill-way,  inefhcient.  They 
are  doing  certain  Christian  deeds  of  worship  and 
of  Sabbath  service,  and,  so  far,  they  may  seem  to 
come  within  the  outermost  circiunference  of  the 
living  membership.  Their  activity  pro/esses  to  be 
Christianized,  but  it  is  not.  Tiiey  repeat  their 
vows  of  consecration.  They  make,  so  far,  a  cred- 
ible profession — that  is,  not  absolutely  incredible. 

But  what  is  the  sum  total  of  their  Christian 
work?  Even  the  Sabbath,  with  its  poor  half  ser- 
vice, may  be  already  a  drudgery.  What  would 
the  great  Inspector,  the  chief  Architect,  say  of 
their  building — of  its  design,  its  proportions,  its 
symmetry,  its  advancement?  AVhat  of  the  mate- 
rials and  the  workmanship — what  of  it  taken  as 
a  progressive  whole?  It  is  wood,  hay,  stubble,  a 
house  of  boughs  and  reeds  for  walls  and  roof,  a 
mere  summer-house,  a  toy-house  for  the  children, 
as  if  never  dreaming  of  making  it  a  substantial 
structure  for  residence — much  less  fire-proof. 

What  now,  my  brethren,  are  the  materials  which 
are  daily  building  into  your  walls  and  forming  part 
of  your  life  structure? 

See  the  unsubstantial  refuse  which  goes  into  so 
many  of  these  buildings — the  unsettled  doctrine, 
the  irresolute  purpose,  the  inconsistent  behavior, 
the  rush  of  worldliness,  the  inactivity  and  ineffi- 
ciency in  religious  duty,  the  dead  wood  of  dead 
works,  the  straw  of  empty  profession,  the  stubble 
of  misconceits  and  of  ill-tempers  and  delinquen- 
cies.    No  plan,  no  selection  of  material,  no  archi- 


296  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

tectural  execution,  and  hence,  no  building  that  is 
substantial  enough  to  hold  together  in  a  storm, 
much  less  to  resist  the  fire.  How  poorly  does  all 
this  befit  the  glorious  and  costly  foundation !  How 
few  have  Avrought  any  thing  that  abides,  any  thing 
that  you  can  find  when  they  are  gone !  How  few 
have  left  any  monument  behind  them  !  Show  us 
where,  among  the  circles  of  professed  builders,  is 
some  ark  going  up  like  Noah's,  or  some  altar  of 
sacrifice  like  Abraham's?  How  many  live  w4th 
their  names  on  the  roll  of  the  church,  but  of  whose 
work  in  the  church  there  is  nothing  at  all  to  men- 
tion, not  so  much  as  a  scarlet  thread  hung  out 
from  the  window  like  Eahab's  in  the  service  of 
God's  messenger ! 

If  there  be  no  plan,  nor  principle,  in  the  relig- 
ious living;  no  earnest  estimates  of  daily  duty,  no 
systematic  and  proportionate  giving  and  praying, 
no  care  nor  painstaking  to  make  the  most  of  one's 
time  and  the  most  of  one's  talent  and  the  most 
of  one's  opportunities  in  God's  service  and  in  the 
work  of  the  church ;  if  all  the  man's  wit  and  fore- 
thought and  art  and  busy  industry  be  applied  to 
his  secular  business;  if  he  have  not  yet  learned 
the  secret  of  carrying  his  religion  into  all  his  pur- 
suits— being  diligent  in  business  yet,  withal,  fer- 
vent in  spirit,  and  in  all  things  and  by  all  means 
serving  the  Lord — then  I  see  how  that  man's  build- 
ing must  be  a  careless  huddling  together  of  life's 
trash  and  refuse  in  his  religious  undertakings,  a 
vast  pile  of  rubbish,  a  building  of  odds  and  ends 
—every  thing  at  random,  wood,  hay,  stubble,  hap- 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  297 

hazard — and  all  of  it  the  light,  combustible  stuff 
which  blazes  at  the  touch  of  fire! 

AVe  learn,  accordingly,  in  the  fourth  place,  how 
even  a  Christian  man  may  be  but  barely  saved. 

•  At  the  day  of  final  revelation  which  shall  make 
every  man's  work  manifest,  such  a  foolish  builder 
as  we  have  named  shall  sniffer  loss — an  awful  loss 
— by  being  stripped  of  all  his  work  in  the  fiery 
trial.  I  Avould  have  you  reflect,  my  brethren,  that 
it  is  possible  for  a  Christian  to  be  barely  saved — 
saved  so  as  by  fire. 

Will  any  one  say  that  this  is  all  he  asks,  to  be 
saved  at  last,  however  narrowly  escaping  eternal 
destruction?  But  av4io  can  tell  the  loss!  It  may 
be  the  difference  between  parlor  and  attic  or  cellar. 
Let  none  imagine  that  all  they  need  for  their  house 
is  a  foundation,  however  good,  however  splendid. 
Let  no  man  think  that  even  the  finished  work  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  enough  for  him,  without  any  work 
of  his  own  going  up  upon  it.  The  foundation  calls 
for  the  corresponding  superstructure — demands  it,  re- 
bukes the  lack  of  it.  And  the  day  is  coming  when 
a  severe  ordeal  "  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  ivhat 
sort  it  is" 

I  see  many  a  man  satisfied  with  being  in  the 
church,  professing  to  have  Christ  for  a  founda- 
tion, but  no  building  going  on  there ;  making- 
little  account  of  daily  rehgion — planning  nothing 
for  Christ,  not  striving  to  live  after  Christ,  not 
building  upon  Christ;  deluded  with  the  idea  that 
his  future  is  safe,  because  he  has  a  theoretical  faith 
and  hope  in  Clnist,  or  an  outward  cliurch  connec- 


298  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

tion  with  nothing  practical  and  personal ;  not  ask- 
ing how  a  mere  foundation  will  answer  when  he 
needs  a  house  for  shelter  and  refuge,  or  how  it  Avill 
go  ivith  Jmn  if,  in  the  fiery  day,  his  house  be  found 
to  be  of  light,  combustible  stuff  which  the  flame 
shall  instantly  devour;  especially  not  considering 
that  he  may  have  been  all  the  while  building  that 
house  on  the  sand. 

That  day  shall  call  for  solid  Avork,  for  massive 
masonry,  for  results  of  hard  day-labor  and  sweat- 
ing toil  of  the  builder — and  all  this  on  the  one 
only  foundation,  Jesus  Christ.  It  will  be  a  day 
of  searching  analysis,  of  universal,  awful  manifes- 
tation. Then  shall  be  plainly  disclosed  just  how 
much  every  man  has  done,  and  just  how  little; 
and  what  sort  of  work  it  is,  and  how  far  it  has 
justified  the  reasonable  expectations,  from  such  a 
foundation  as  is  laid  in  the  Gospel  and  professedly 
chosen  by  every  Christian  man. 

I  see  some — many — who  will  be  able  to  show 
nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  building  which  will 
stand  a  moment's  test  of  that  last  fearful  day. 

How  inexorable  the  fire  is  in  its  devouring  appe- 
tite for  all  that  light  and  empty  material !  How 
in  one  instant  that  ark  of  rushes  has  vanished 
and  nothing  is  left  Avhere  all  that  pride  had  been ! 
Yes.  Even  the  Christian  man  may  be  barely  saved 
• — as  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  burning,  after  the 
fire  had  fastened  upon  it  already,  so  as  to  begin  to 
blacken  and  char  it — barely  saved!  Almost  lost! 
Like  Lot,  saved  only  at  the  hardest,  only  out  of 
the  jaws  of  perdition,  only  by  the  special  urgency 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  299 

of  good  angels  at  the  last  moment;  onl)^  at  the 
very  side  of  some  pillar  of  God's  wrath,  where  his 
own  wife,  almost  saved,  is  lost  after  all. 

This  being  saved  yet  suffering  loss  —  the  man 
himself  saved  but  saving  nothing  witli  him — is  as 
where  one  has  barely  escaped  from  a  burning  tene- 
ment with  his  life.  His  very  skin  is  shrivelled  by 
the  flames.  Estimate  the  loss,  if  you  can,  Vvdiere 
the  Christian  is  barely  kept  out  of  the  perdition 
that  overtakes  all  that  he  has  built;  where  it 
would  seem  he  must  stand  for  his  eternity  on 
the  hot  edge  of  the  fiery  gulf;  just  as  where  one 
stands  amidst  the  gases  and  steam  of  Vesuvius, 
on  the  very  brink  of  the  crater,  having  only  to 
think,  with  trembling  aAve,  how  he  has  just  so 
narrowly  escaped  being  swallowed  up  in  its  yawn- 
ing abyss  of  fire ! 

Is  tliis  a  result  worthy  a  Christian's  ambition,  to 
stand  at  last,  like  a  man  Avhose  dwelling  is  burned 
over  his  head  and  who  is  driven  out,  naked  and 
homeless,  into  the  streets,  only  not  himself  con- 
sumed, yet  stripped  of  every  thing  but  his  life? 
This  is  the  case  of  a  Christian  man  who  has  no 
substantial  Christian  building  to  show  at  last ;  noth- 
ing, save  the  Christian  foundation  upon  which  he 
built  his  house  of  straw.  There  were  only  fitful 
and  random  efforts  of  piety — scattered  deeds  of 
Christian  charity  —  nothing  systematic,  habitual, 
day  by  day,  as  the  day-laborer,  and  hence  no  com- 
pleted and  consistent  edifice  at  last,  as  the  result 
that  is  worthy  of  the  name.  He  has  no  work  that 
can  stand  the  test,  nothing  that  can  abide  as  a 


300  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

building,  and  the  awful  loss  he  suffers  is  that  of 
every  thing  but  existence  itself  It  is  one  thing  to 
be  snatched  from  the  endless  burning  as  a  charred 
brand;  but  oh!  it  is  quite  another  thing  to  have 
an  entrance  ministered  abundantly  into  God's  ever- 
lasting kingdom. 

Look  now  at  this  opposite  case  in  the  text — at 
the  Christian  man  whose  work  abides^  who  is  ahun- 
danthj  saved — saved  with  his  house  and  his  house- 
hold, saved  with  all  the  goodly  and  beautiful  and 
stately  and  substantial  fabric  he  had  built  on  Jesus 
Christ. 

Observe,  there  is  the  daily  ivorh  on  this  building. 
No  day  that  something  is  not  done  to  advance  the 
structure.  Every  thing  that  is  wrought  at  home 
and  abroad,  on  Sabbaths  and  week-days  alike,  is 
made  to  contribute  to  the  glorious  fabric. 

And  so  the  work  goes  on  everywhere,  just  as  the 
carpenter  is  making  the  doors  and  windows  of  the 
house  far  off  in  his  own  factory,  or  as  Avhere  the 
iron  front  of  a  store  is  casting  away  in  the  distant 
foundry.  The  religion  of  that  man  is  carried  into 
daily  life  and,  just  as  the  fire  converts  the  clay  into 
the  hardest  brick  for  the  building,  so  his  reHgion 
has  this  converting  power,  and  his  afflictions  even 
work  this  result,  giving  solid  substance  to  what 
were  else  only  as  the  dust  of  the  streets  or  the 
common  soil  you  tread  upon. 

And  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  some  men's  build- 
ing material  is  most  costly  and  rare — is  even  gold, 
silver,  precious  stones.  Only  conceive  how  exqui- 
site a  structm'e  it  is  possible   for  a  Christian   to 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  301 

erect  upon  Jesus  Christ,  by  little  and  little  working 
into  walls  and  cornices  and  capitals  the  most  rich 
and  splendid  materials,  and,  here  and  there,  the 
gold  and  silver  ornaments  that  shall  glisten  in  the 
light  of  that  final  revelation — bringing  the  world's 
art  and  treasure  and  making  the  whole  domain  of 
wealth  and  beauty  contribute  to  the  work.  Just 
as  you  may  see  porphyry  columns  from  the  great 
temple  of  Diana  wrought  into  the  Christian  tem- 
ple of  Chrysostoni — like  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 
itself — its  spanning  roof  overlaid  Avith  gold,  and  its 
pinnacles  and  turrets  pointed  with  gold,  cedar  of 
Lebanon  for  its  beams  Avhich  the  worms  will  not 
perforate,  and  all  the  cunning  handiwork  of  Tyrian 
builders  applied  to  make  it  the  most  splendid  of  all 
earthly  structures:  or  like  the  famed  chapel  of  the 
Medici  at  Florence,  lined  with  slabs  of  all  precious 
stones — the  porphyry  and  malachite  and  agate  and 
lapis  lazuli — all  polished  to  the  highest  degree,  and 
even  the  tombs  dazzling  with  the  rarest  glory,  and 
that  as  a  family  mausoleum  amidst  the  splendor  of 
which  they  lay  their  household  dead. 

Take  the  life  of  some  of  the  men  whose  Chris- 
tian usefulness  has  left  such  a  splendid  memorial 
of  Christian  works  behind  them  —  as  that  of  Ed- 
wards, Whitfield,  Wesley,  Nettleton — whose  acts 
of  faith  like  bars  of  molten  gold,  and  whose  pa- 
tience of  hope  and  labors  of  love  like  the  precious 
stones  of  the  celestial  foundations,  have  all  been 
wrought  into  an  exquisite  fabric  upon  the  basis  of 
Jesus  Christ.  We  bless  God  that,  in  our  day,  men 
are  building  monuments,  in  the  shape  of  Christian 


302  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

hospitals  and  educational  and  charitable  institu- 
tions, to  stand  for  ages,  doing  their  silent  and  be- 
neficent work  in  which  God  and  angels  rejoice. 

Look  at  Leigh  Richmond,  writing  the  tract  of 
the  "  Dairyman's  Daughter,"  and  by  this  one  act, 
which  was  only  the  expression  of  his  Christian  life, 
building  into  his  life  structure  so  many  polished 
stones,  rearing  so  many  pillars  in  the  temple  of 
God!  See  how  the  building  grows  upon  his  hands 
to  this  day,  and  seems,  at  length,  to  be  like  some 
fairy  mansion,  Avidening  and  towering  more  and 
more  with  each  succeeding  year  of  new  successes 
to  his  work!  Long  after  the  builder's  head  is  in 
the  dust  and  his  soul  in  glory  the  stately  pile  goes 
up,  and  the  procession  of  converts  from  that  simple 
story  of  the  cross  lengthens,  and  they  keep  pour- 
ing in  to  heaven,  where  he  rests  from  his  labors  and 
his  works  do  follow  him.  You  know  the  fmnda- 
tion  of  that  structure  from  the  fabric  itself — like  the 
Milan  Cathedral,  bristling  all  over  at  the  pinnacles 
and  turrets  with  human  forms,  wrought  carefully 
into  living  proportions,  and  everywhere  embellish- 
ing the  gorgeous  structure,  filling  every  niche  and 
corner,  every  capital,  as  so  many  stately  trophies 
of  the  workman's  art,  as  if  aiming  everywhere  to 
elevate  man  and  thrusting  up  towards  the  heavens 
the  marble  statues  of  man  as  tj^Des  of  the  true. 

Look  at  John  Bunyan,  who  might  have  ex- 
cused himself  from  any  great  enterprise  of  useful- 
ness in  the  dungeon  of  Bedford  Jail;  but,  while 
many  an  inert,  lifeless  Christian  was  sorrowing 
that  so  much  power  for  good  should  be  shut  up  in 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  303 

a  gloomy  prison,  he  had  Avithin  him  a  hght  which 
the  prisou  walls  and  bars  could  not  confine — 
which  streamed  out  through  every  cranny  and 
crevice.  And  where  God's  light  and  air  must  come 
in  to  him,  his  light  shone  out  in  return,  and  the 
atmosphere  of  his  piety  breathed  around  to  en- 
lighten and  enliven  masses  of  minds  to  the  last 
day.  And  since  his  time,  no  pilgrim  to  the  celes- 
tial city,  who  has  heard  of  Bunyan's  pilgrimage, 
but  walks  up  Hill  Difficulty  by  the  aid  of  his 
goodly  staff,  nor  passes  the  wicket  gate  without 
casting  off  his  burden  where  Bunyan  threw  his. 

Observe,  my  hearers,  the  work  of  a  Christian 
minister  is  that  of  a  Avise  master-builder — to  lay 
the  foundation  upon  which  the  members  are  to 
build,  to  set  forth  Jesus  Christ  as  the  rock,  and  to 
Avarn  men  against  the  saiid;  to  charge  men  with 
the  Avisdom  of  choosing  him  for  a  foundation,  and 
to  AA^arn  them  against  the  folly  of  not  going  for- 
Avard  Avith  the  building;  to  beg  them  push  on 
their  great  life-Avork  and  take  heed  Jiow  they  build 
as  Avell  as  ichere  they  build. 

And  a  church  ought  to  be  the  sphere  of  utmost 
business  enterprise  and  activity,  unsurpassed  by 
any  thing  in  the  Avorld.  Here  is  the  field  for  the 
noblest  exertion  of  human  skill  and  energy — CA^ery 
man  Avorking  at  the  edifice  Avhich  is  to  be  the  re- 
sult of  his  labors  for  life,  and  all  Avorking  together, 
each  carrying  up  some  part  of  the  temple  of  God, 
some  one  of  those  noble  structures  Avhich  are  to 
form  the  celestial  city — the  Ncav  Jerusalem.  That 
is  the  city  Avhich  lieth  four-square — which  is  laid 


804  EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER. 

out  according  to  divine  rule  and  not  according  to 
the  selfish  and  tortuous  interests  and  arts  of  men; 
which  calls  for  conduct  that  is  honest  and  earnest 
and  straightforward,  and  not  shifting  and  evasive ; 
where  you  shall  not  lose  your  way  among  the 
windings  of  deceit,  but  Avhere  every  thing  is  open 
and  manifest. 

My  brethren,  the  highest  gloiy  of  a  Christian 
minister  is  to  see  the  people  husily  at  work,  each 
rearing  some  sightly  and  substantial  edifice  of  faith 
and  love  upon  the  foundation  he  lias  laid  among 
them ;  to  watch  the  proportion  of  each  structure  as 
it  develops  day  by  day,  and  to  look  forward  to  the 
time  when,  in  that  New  Jerusalem,  he  shall  walk 
some  golden  street  all  lined  with  rows  of  stately 
palaces  built  by  his  people,  each  for  himself  on 
Jesus  Christ. 

There  is  one  reflection  from  this  subject  which 
bears  upon  such  of  you  as  have  not  so  much  as 
professed  or  attempted  to  build  upon  this  founda- 
tion. With  you  it  may  be  the  folly  of  erecting 
some  laborious  work  of  a  careful  morality  upon  a 
foundation  of  sand,  ignoring  the  foundation- work 
of  Christ;  or  it  may  be  the  recklessness  of  hav- 
ing only  wood,  hay  and  stubble  for  building  and 
foundation  together.  God  himself  has  asked  in 
the  Scriptures — "If  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved 
where  shall  the  ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear  ?  " 
Grant  it,  even,  that  all  your  criticism  of  church 
members  is  just — grant  it  that  often  their  buildmg, 
as  you  see  it  go  up,  is  of  mere  combustible  stuff. 
This  only  points  the  question  which  comes  home 


EVERY    MAN    HIS    OWN    BUILDER.  305 

to  yourself — "i/*  they  he  scarcely  saved'' — if  every 
thing  of  theirs  shall  be  swept  away  but  the  bare 
foundation,  if  this  fiery  ordeal  shall  utterly  con- 
sume all  men's  work  and  leave  tliem  stripped  and 
suffering  such  fearful  loss,  only  barely  kept  out  of 
perdition  and  scarcely  allotted  a  remote  corner  in 
the  heavenly  city,  then  "where  shall  the  ungodly 
and  the  sinner  appear?  " 

It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  build  on  Jesus  Christ, 
to  have  laid  even  the  first  stone  upon  him  as 
the  chosen  corner-stone  and  sure  foundation.  It 
is  something  blessed  to  build  even  a  booth  of 
boughs  or  rushes  upon  such  a  foundation  as  Je- 
sus. But  to  reject  him,  to  be  deliberately  scorn- 
ing this  high  privilege,  to  be  testifying,  by  your 
■example,  that  he  is  worthless  or  useless  for  you  to 
build  upon,  that  all  his  work  from  Betlilehem  to 
Calvary  and  in  glory  is  needless  for  you,  or  that  you 
have  a  better  ground  of  hope  and  conduct  for  eter- 
nity— what  Avill  you  answer  to  him  at  the  final  bar? 

I  tell  you  it  is  better  to  be  a  poor  Christian  than 
to  be  no  Christian;  to  be  a  loeak  believer  than  to 
be  710  believer  at  all;  better  to  be  making  feeble 
attempts  and  to  liave  ill  success  in  religion  than 
to  be  building  on  the  sand.  But  oh!  it  is  best  of 
all  to  be  daily  building  up  a  fabric  which  shall 
abide — to  be  working  into  it  the  gold,  silver  and 
precious  stones,  to  glisten  and  glow  in  the  coming 
glory  more  elegant  and  stately  than  any  mansion 
of  earth,  which  the  eye  shall  delight  to  rest  upon 
in  eternity,  and  which  shall  survive  the  wreck  of 
material  greatness  forever  and  ever. 
20 


XVIII. 

THE   EAGLE'S   NEST. 

"As  an  eagle  stirrreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young, 
spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh  ihem,  beareth  them  on  her 
wings;  So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and  there  was  no  strange 
god  with  him." — Deut.  xxxii.  11-12. 

God  is  the  source  and  pattern  of  every  thing  ex- 
cellent in  the  universe.  If  there  is  fondness  in  the 
jjatenial  relation,  if  you  see  on  earth  any  charming 
specimen  of  what  a  flither  ought  to  be,  all  these 
qualities  have  come  from  God;  and  they  are  only 
at  best  a  dim  type  and  distant  hint  of  what  God  is, 
in  that  capacity,  when  he  bids  us  call  him,  "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven." 

If  there  is  any  thing  endearing  in  the  hisbandy 
any  attribute  in  such  an  one,  that  w^ins  the  heart 
beyond  all  common  parallel,  there,  again,  is  a  faint 
picture  of  what  God  is,  as  he  can  be  but  poorly 
represented  in  such  an  image  of  himself — "Thy 
jMaker  is  thy  husband."  So,  we  all  know  that 
a  brother  '-is  born  for  adversity."  The  God-man 
is  our  elder  brother,  and  he  is  the  Friend  that 
sticketli  closer  than  a  brother.  And  who  does 
not  know  Avhat  ineffable  loveliness  there  is  for 
us  all  in  a  mother;  how  the  name  tells  of  match- 
less fondness,  tenderness,  watchings,  long-suffer- 
ing and  ftiithful  care?     But  this,  also,  God  takes 


THE   eagle's   nest.  307 

as  his  favorite  resemblance  and  reminder  on  earth 
— "As  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth,  so  will 
I  comfort  you." 

And  so,  also,  in  the  vegetahle  icorld  there  are 
the  pictures  of  himself  The  vine  that  clambers 
over  the  latticed  porch  of  wealth  and  poverty 
alike  and  hangs  ladened  with  its  purple  clusters 
is  beautiful.  But  Jesus  claims  all  that  is  charm- 
ing in  it,  as  only  a  type  of  himself  and  says:  "I 
am  the  true  vine."  As  though  these  all,  in  every 
vineyard,  on  every  hill-side  and  in  every  garden, 
were  only  to  be  understood  as  the  shadows  and 
images  of  the  true,  himself  the  genuine,  origi- 
nal, archetyped  vine,  and  "ye,"  he  adds,  "are  the 
branches  " !  So,  if  bread  is  good — if  this,  that  is 
the  food  of  the  starving  and  the  daily  nourish- 
ment of  the  millionaire  has  any  thing  excellent 
in  itself  as  the  grand  staple  and  staff  of  life,  Jesus 
says,  "  I  am  that  bread  of  life."  And  if,  for  every 
man's  thirst,  there  is  nature's  beverage,  that  has 
the  highest  power  to  slake  it,  so  that  the  king 
and  the  peasant  draw  from  the  same  fountain  and 
drink  at  the  same  stream,  Jesus  says,  as  he  sits 
by  the  well-side,  where  we  all  have  come  up  with 
our  poor  pitchers  to  draw — "I  am  the  wcder  of 
life."  And  so,  also,  where  along  the  path  of  prince 
or  beggar,  the  rose  of  Sharon  blooms,  or  the  lily 
of  the  valley  sheds  its  fragrance,  Jesus  says — "  I 
am  the  Rose  of  Sharon,  and  the  Lily  of  the  Val- 
ley." And  fragrance  drops  from  his  lips,  and  his 
fingers  drop  myrrh  on  the  handles  of  the  locks. 

So   if  the   sun  in   his   daily  career  is  glorious, 


308  THE  eagle's  nest. 

Jesus  still  declares,  that  it  is  a  borrowed  splen- 
dor, set  in  the  sky  to  give  iis  this  best  of  all  en- 
lightenment— the  knowledge  of  himself;  and  that 
he  has  in  perfection,  all  that  is  imaged  forth  in 
that  material  orb ;  for  he  is  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, and  rises  upon  our  darkened  and  desolate 
souls  with  healing  in  his  beams. 

And  so,  even  in  the  animal  loorld,  he  has  his 
types — hangs  out  the  pictures  of  himself  to  the 
commonest  view.  His  tender  care,  he  says,  is 
like  that  of  the  hen,  gathering  her  brood  under 
her  wings.  And  this  constant,  busy  training  of 
his  people,  in  the  discipline  of  daily  life,  is  like 
that  of  the  eagle,  with  her  young  in  the  nest. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  a  star  celebrated  his  ad- 
vent, that  the  sun  hid  his  face,  and  that  earth's 
granite  rocks  rent  their  bosoms  at  his  crucifixion. 

The  picture  Avhich  the  Holy  Ghost  has  given  us 
in  the  text  represents  a  great  truth.  It  teaches 
us  Go(Ts  discipline  of  his  children  for  an  elevated 
Christian  life.  He  Avill  have  us  comprehend  tlie 
vital  idea;  and  so  he  will  take  us  out  to  Avhere 
the  noblest  of  birds  builds  her  nest,  on  some  tall 
crag  of  the  rock,  far  above  the  busy  haunts  of 
men,  and  he  will  show  us  how,  with  untiring  de- 
vice and  persistency,  she  makes  it  the  first  great 
business  to  teach  her  young  to  fly.  How  she  dis- 
turbs the  nest  for  this,  flutters  anxiously  over  her 
brood  to  break  up  their  listless  repose  and  set 
them  in  motion  towards  herself,  spreadeth  her 
own  wings  so  that  they  may  catch  the  idea  and 
be  led  to  imitate  her  actions,  and  even  takes  them 


THE    EAGLE'S    NEST.  309 

up  by  her  own  kind  force  and  bears  them  on  her 
-vvings,  if"  thus,  by  any  means,  they  may  be  drawn 
or  driven  to  fly. 

This  opens  to  us,  firsts  the  grand  secret  of  life. 
Life  is  a  .schooling,  a  discipline,  a  preparation  for 
another  world.  God  has  his  children  here  on 
earth.  Some  of  them  are  in  the  church,  others 
are  not  yet  gathered  in.  Some  of  them  are  his 
young  children,  yet  in  the  nest,  never  developed 
to  any  maturity.  But  over  them  all  he  busily 
watches,  and  with  them  all  he  constantly  deals 
and  strives. 

And  this  is  the  meaning  of  our  changes.  A 
man  gets  a  blow  in  the  dark  from  an  unseen  hand, 
and  he  wonders  whether  it  be  an  enemy,  but  finds 
out  that  it  is  a  friend  driving  him  back  from  a 
precipice,  or  from  the  edge  of  a  pit,  into  which  he 
is  just  taking  the  fatal  step.  We  fret  and  worry 
at  our  discomforts  and  dislodgements.  Fire,  flood, 
tornado  wait  upon  us,  to  sweep  away  our  goods. 
Robbers,  in  many  a  guise,  strip  us  of  our  hard- 
earned  gains.  Sickness  reduces  our  strength,  ema- 
ciates our  frames  and  dries  up  our  pleasures;  and 
we  see  ourselves  only  as  the  ill-starred  victims  of 
adversity,  and  seek  as  best  we  can,  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  our  troubles.  And  this  is  life !  Or 
perhaps  prosperity  waits  upon  us  and  all  our  en- 
terprises are  a  series  of  successes,  and  we  add 
house  to  house  and  field  to  field,  and  call  ourselves 
rich  and  independent,  and  see  not  the  hand  that 
is  dealing  with  us,  and  learn  not  the  intent  of  his 
dealings ;  and  this  is  only  another  phase  of  life  1 


310  THE    eagle's    nest. 

But  God's  hand  in  our  affairs  is  life's  great  secret 
— un divulged  to  so  many,  who  never  know  what 
helps  them  or  what  harms  them  or  by  what  great 
powers  of  the  eternal  world  they  are  constantly 
influenced  and  disciplined  for  their  swift-coming 
hereafter. 

Let  us  look,  then,  at  GocTs  children  in  the  nest 
There  is  a  Christian  life  that  is  the  very  least  re- 
move from  death  itself — the  barest  infancy  of  the 
Christian  being.  And  God  forbid  that  we  should 
pronounce  against  whatever  can  not  show  the  ma- 
turit}^  and  manhood  of  piety.  God  recognizes  his 
infant  children  and  with  more  than  a  mother's  ten- 
derness waits  upon  them,  and  watches  over  them ; 
bears  long  with  them,  for  their  advancement  in 
the  divine  life.  Some  have  been  poorly  nurtured 
by  their  earthly  tutors,  have  been  carelessly  led 
along,  incorrectly  taught,  never  set  to  work,  or 
else  crippled  by  ill-usage  of  their  Christian  guides. 
And  they  are  babes  long  after  they  should  have 
been  groAvn  men.  They  are  using  milk  long  after 
they  should  have  come  to  the  strong  meat  of  God's 
mature  children.  When  they  ought  to  have  been 
teachers,  they  have  need  that  one  teach  them  what 
be  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 

If  none  but  the  full-grown,  well-developed  men 
and  women  are  true  members  of  Christ's  family, 
then,  alas  1  we  have  but  few.  How  many  stagger 
yet  at  the  very  gate-way  of  life,  not  at  all  estab- 
lished in  Christian  doctrine,  not  knowing,  as  yet, 
but  that  their  repentance  must  be  in  part  pay 
when  the  ransom  price  is  counted ;  not  certain  but 


THE    eagle's    nest.  311 

their  faith  is  to  save  them  instead  of  Christ,  or  by- 
its  own  virtue  and  vahie,  rather  than  as  taking 
hold  of  Christ!  And  though  we  teach  them  a 
thousand  times  and  a  thousand  ways,  there  they 
are  yet — never  venturing  out  of  the  nest,  never 
trying  their  wings,  never  soaring  nor  learning  to 
soar.  They  are  like  mariners  who  have  weiglied 
anchor,  but  they  never  set  sail,  nor  even  unloose 
their  moorings,  nor  even  get  away  from  port. 
They  go  no  whither,  they  arrive  nowhere. 

But  there  is  another  class  of  God's  children  in 
the  nest.  I  mean  those  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion. 
They  are  just  satisfied  to  keep  a  comfortable  place 
in  the  church  for  slumber  and  self-security.  They 
are  taking  religion  as  a  secondary  thing,  not  as  the 
chief  business.  They  are  the  sluggish,  inactive 
members,  who  are  vigorous  and  efficient  enough 
in  traffic  and  merchandising,  shrewd  enough  in 
making  money,  and  we  only  wonder  at  them,  how, 
even  if  they  have  their  daily  prayers,  even  if  they 
daily  say  the  Lord's  prayer,  as  their  Christian  moth- 
er taught  them,  they  could  manage  to  be  such 
utter  drones  in  the  church.  You  never  see  them 
rising  high  in  their  devotions,  never  spreading 
their  wings  to  soar  towards  God,  never  abounding 
in  any  Christian  grace,  never  like  the  eagle,  pierc- 
ing the  sky  with  a  steady  gaze  upon  the  sun;  but 
always  grovelling,  taking  the  narrowest  views  of 
Christian  privilege  and  duty,  circumscribing  their 
religion  within  their  nest,  and,  to  all  appearance, 
not  a  whit  maturcr  to-day  than  years  ago  in  this 
divine  life. 


312  THE    eagle's    nest. 

I  do  not  say  that  such  are  Christians  indeed, 
as  they  profess  to  be ;  I  only  know  that  we  may 
stretch  our  charity  so  far  as  to  hope  for  even  such, 
that  they  may  be,  as  yet,  Hke  Peter,  following  the 
]M aster  afar  off,  until  they  should  be  drawn  out  to 
a  new  style  of  Christian  living.  I  see  such  evi- 
dently satisfying  themselves  with  the  comforts  of 
this  world,  and  not  looking  for  a  better  country, 
that  is  a  heavenly;  folding  the  cloak  of  a  Chris- 
tian profession  around  them  and  wrapping  them- 
selves up  in  worldly  prosperity,  and  saying,  "I 
shall  die  in  my  nest." 

I  point  you,  my  brethren,  in  this  light,  to  the 
meaning  of  your  providential  history.  I  beg  you 
to  consider  God's  discipline  towards  you,  and  its 
high  intent.  The  picture  in  the  text  portrays  to 
us  the  unremitting  care  and  assiduity  of  God  in 
prosecution  of  one  great  end — to  make  you  get 
out  from  your  indolence  and  immaturity  and  rise 
and  fly  in  all  the  ways  of  an  elevated  Christian 
living. 

There  is  a  higher  style  of  Christian  living,  just 
as  different  from  the  lower  Christian  life  as  the 
manhood  is  from  infancy,  as  the  soaring  eagle  is 
from  the  unfledged  bird  in  the  nest.  The  Scrip- 
ture, indeed,  sometimes  speaks  of  such  an  ad- 
vanced piety  as  requiring,  in  some  cases,  a  re- 
converting power  for  a  new  turning  to  God.  I  do 
not  say  a  second  regeneration.  This  is  just  as  im- 
possible as  was  the  case  proposed  by  Nicodemus — 
a  second  natural  birth.  There  is  no  falling  from 
grace  where  there  is  no  grace  to  fall  from,  and 


THE   eagle's   nest.  313 

what  grace  begins  it  will  complete.  The  new- 
born soul  has  the  divine  life;  it  may  be  sickly, 
faint,  dwarfish,  feeble,  childish,  so  as  to  adhere  to 
the  diet  and  action  of  the  child,  and  seem  to  get 
no  manliness  or  maturity.  This  is  Avhat  we  speak 
of  And  in  the  case  of  Peter,  Christ  forewarned 
him  of  his  weakness  that  would  issue  in  a  fall,  and 
then  assured  him  that  though  he  should  come  to 
be  disgraced  before  his  brethren,  and  should  weep 
bitter  tears  of  shame  and  sorrow,  yet  by  his  divine 
intercession,  his  faith  should  not  utterly  fail.  And 
when  this  crisis  is  past,  he  says,  "  When  thou  art 
converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren." 

Would  you  know  Avhat  this  reconversion  is? 
Look  at  the  case  of  Peter.  No  more  following 
afar  off,  no  more  childish  fear,  no  childish  boast- 
ing; but  a  heart  full  of  love,  that  would  bear  the 
threefold  questioning  of  the  ]\Iaster  at  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  or  plunge  into  the  sea  to  embrace  him; 
would  defend  his  cause  at  Pentecost — before  the 
scoffing  Jews  and  scorning  Sanhedrim,  and  did 
go  to  prison  and  to  death  for  his  sake;  whereas 
before,  he  had  only  made  the  loud  profession  and 
shrank  away  when  the  trial  came. 

Let  us  look  a  moment  at  the  assiduity  and  vari- 
ety and  persistency  of  God's  dealings  with  us  in 
this  direction.  Job.  out  of  the  midst  of  his  severe 
discipline,  his  poverty — children  and  health  gone 
- — caught  a  view  of  the  dignity  of  such  divine 
dealing,  and  cried  out — "  What  is  man  that  thou 
shouldest  magnify  him  and  shouldest  set  thine 
heart  upon  him,  and  that  thou  shouldest  visit  him 


314  THE  eagle's  nest. 

every  morning',  and  try  him  every  moment?"  And 
the  Psalmist,  in  the  same  spirit,  wonders  when 
he  looks  out  from  the  glorious  marshalling  of  the 
stars  and  says — "What  is  man  that  thou  art  mind- 
ful of  him,  or  the  Son  of  Man  that  thou  visitest 
him?" 

Look,  then,  upon  your  changes,  and  see  that 
they  are  only  the  hand  of  God  in  your  affairs,  only 
the  evidence  of  his  interest  in  you,  only  the  posi- 
tive proof  that  he  cares  too  much  for  you  to  let 
you  alone.  Were  it  any  advantage  of  a  school 
that  you  should  get  no  lessons,  or  that  the  lessons 
should  never  be  hard  or  long,  or  that  when  the 
lesson  is  poorly  learned  it  should  never  be  given 
you  over  again,  even  with  a  rebuke,  to  call  atten- 
tion to  it  and  set  you  about  an  earnest  study  of  it, 
and  impress  it  on  your  memory?  Look  back  a 
little  and  see  if  there  be  not  here  an  interpreta- 
tion of  your  allotments  that  you  should  all  along 
have  regarded  well  and  understood.  Ask  if  this 
understanding  of  it  would  not  have  often  altered 
the  whole  aspect  of  life  to  you — lighted  up  many 
of  its  dark  places  and  made  the  whole  course  of  it 
seem  sacred,  and  even  its  suffering  sweet?  I  think 
we  all  understand  this,  in  this  day  of  trouble,  un- 
der this  dispensation  of  calamity  and  death. 

Firsts  there  is  the  stirring  up  of  your  nest.  It 
is  hard  to  be  disturbed  so — to  have  the  slumbers 
broken  and  the  quiet  of  the  dear  household  in- 
vaded by  disaster,  disease  and  distress — hard  to 
be  dislodged  by  the  hand  of  violence  and  have 
the  sweet  resting-place  utterly  torn  in  pieces  and 


THE  eagle's  nest.  315 

yon  and  yours  emptied  out  upon  the  world.  But 
this  is  only  God's  fidelity.  Every  such  occasion  is 
only  a  golden  occasion  for  you  to  put  forth  some 
heaven-born  energy,  to  cultivate  some  cultured 
grace,  to  put  you  in  motion,  so  as  to  try  your 
wing  and  learn  its  use  and  practice  the  divine  art 
of  soaring  towards  God.  Therefore  he  disturbs 
your  house  or  dislodges  you  from  your  comfort- 
able nest.  The  culture  of  humility  or  charity  or 
patience  or  faith — this  is  what  is  aimed  at.  He 
knows  what  a  desolate  hearth-stone  is,  and  there- 
fore he  has  adopted  this  device  for  your  highest 
interest.  Just  as  if  a  father  should  find  his  son 
sleeping  out  at  night  in  the  barn,  among  the  cat- 
tle, and  he  should  tear  his  pillow  of  straw  from 
under  him,  only  to  bring  him  in  to  his  better 
couch  and  covering.  That  stirring  up  of  your 
nest,  God  has  done.  If  he  had  not  done  it,  he 
would  have  been  caring  less  for  you.  That  sharp 
bereavement,  that  came  like  a  thunderbolt  upon 
the  head  of  your  house  and  struck  down  the  part- 
ner of  your  bosom,  or  the  idol  and  ideal  of  your 
family,  Avas  only  in  the  line  of  his  gracious  deal- 
ing. Just  as  surely  as  you  are  his  child,  we  know 
what  is  his  intent  in  the  affliction. 

You  can  not  fully  appreciate  the  picture  before 
us,  unless  you  consider  that  it  is  not  only  the  nest 
of  her  young,  but  her  oiun  nest,  that  the  eagle 
stirs  up.  It  is  so  with  the  Covenant  Angel.  God's 
interest  in  his  children,  even  in  the  weakest  of 
them,  is  amazing.  This  is  his  household  and  his 
family  that  he  deals  with.     Their  enemies  are  his 


316  THE  eagle's  nest. 

enemies,  and  his  gloiy  and  joy  is  in  getting  them 
up  to  himself. 

How  he  bore  with  the  blindness  and  hardness 
and  backwardness  of  the  twelve,  the  denials  of 
Peter  and  tlie  doubts  of  Thomas,  and  even,  up  to 
his  dying  moment,  saw  from  the  cross  of  his  agony 
how  they  shrank  ignobly  away,  down-hearted,  fear- 
ful and  ready  to  give  up  all  for  lost.  And  how  he 
spent  those  forty  days  seeking  after  them,  and 
appearing  to  tliem  all  the  way  from  his  home  in 
glory,  just  to  clear  away  their  doubts  and  remove 
their  prejudices.  And  now,  when  he  stirs  up  your 
nest,  he  feels  the  pang,  for  it  is  his  own  darling 
interest  that  clusters  there.  Think  not  it  is  the 
hand  of  a  rude  invader,  Avho  would  wilfully  break 
up  your  peace;  think  not  that  God  sends  these 
afflictions  as  purely  judicial,  with  no  pang  of  sym- 
pathy in  your  sorrow.  He  has  tried  to  show  us 
— "What  is  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inher- 
itance in  the  saints."  And  here  in  the  preceding 
context,  as  if  to  prepare  us  to  appreciate  the  pic- 
ture, he  has  said — "The  Lord's  portion  is  his  peo- 
ple.    Jacob  is  the  lot  of  his  inheritance." 

But  this  is  not  all.  There  is  an  infinite  variety 
in  the  treatment.  Just  as  that  noblest  parent  bird 
flutters  over  her  young  in  utmost  anxiety,  liover- 
ing  over  them,  to  arrest  their  attention ;  so,  if  you 
would  listen,  you  could  hear  the  Covenant  Angel, 
by  the  very  rustling  of  his  wings,  in  your  affairs, 
constantly  challenging  your  notice,  winning  you 
to  consider  him  as  your  Saviour  and  to  commit 
your  ways  to  his  care;  bidding  you  look  upward 


THE   eagle's  nest.  317 

from  all  that  is  grovelling  and  selfish  and  slug- 
gish, and  to  see  and  recognize  with  gratitude  how 
busily  and  anxiously  he  watches  over  you  for  your 
highest  good.  Can  you  not  read  this  teaching  in 
your  history? — "In  all  their  affliction  he  was  af- 
flicted, and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved  tliem. 
In  his  love  and  in  his  pity  he  redeemed  them  and 
he  bare  them,  and  carried  them  all  the  days  of  old." 
This  is  life's  great  secret.  And  if  you  know  what 
it  is  to  pity  your  suffering  children,  that  is  the 
picture,  if  you  please:  "Like  as  a  father  pitieth 
his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear 
him."  He  never  stirs  up  your  nest,  but  he  stirs 
his  own  soul  to  the  depths. 

And  then  another  device  for  the  same  object 
is  represented  by  the  eagle  spreading  abroad  her 
icings  in  the  view  of  her  young.  It  is  another 
feature  in  the  inspired  illustration,  another  variety 
in  the  loving  discipline  of  God.  "We  know  what 
this  is — that  when  at  some  moment  the  attention 
has  been  arrested  by  some  dealing,  like  this  flut- 
tering over  you  of  the  Covenant  Angel,  God  shows 
you,  by  his  own  pattern  in  the  flesh,  what  it  is  to 
soar;  what  he  would  have  you  do  and  how  you 
should  do  it,  ever  spreading  abroad  his  own  wings, 
in  tlie  way  of  tempting  you  to  the  upward  flight. 

When  he  gives  us  to  see  how  beautiful  is  that 
exalted  piety  Avliich  shone  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus 
— is  there  no  incitement  in  it  to  seek  a  similar 
style  of  living?  He  became  very  man  to  live  for 
us  as  well  as  to  die  for  us.  All  that  life  of  his, 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  w^as  given  as  a  pat- 


318  THE  eagle's  nest. 

tern,  no  less  than  a  propitiation — pattern  prayers, 
pattern  labors,  pattern  graces,  pattern  life,  pattern 
death — always  soaring  himself,  so  as  to  teach  us  to 
soar. 

And  can  yon  not  read  this  also,  in  his  parental 
discipline?  Have  you  not  sometimes  been  driven 
away  from  all  earthly  trusts,  from  every  human 
helper,  to  Christ  Jesus  alone,  as  the  only  alto- 
gether lovely  being  in  the  universe?  Have  you 
not  been  pressed  to  the  simple  study  of  his  char- 
acter and  life,  as  having  in  it  an  attraction  and  a 
perfection  nowhere  else  to  be  found  ?  And  when 
sickened  of  the  imperfect  earthly  examples,  you 
have  sought  a  true  and  perfect  pattern  of  living, 
have  you  not  been  led  directly  to  behold  the  jMan 
— the  Pattern  ]\Ian  ?  x4nd  then,  in  every  circle  of 
life,  among  enemies  or  friends,  in  the  temple  or 
the  garden,  in  the  home  of  JMartha  or  the  house 
of  Simon,  on  Tabor  or  Olivet,  you  have  seen  him 
spreading  his  wdngs  teaching  and  tempting  us  to 
soar. 

And  then,  as  a  crowning  feature  of  the  illustra- 
tion, there  is  that  other  variety  in  the  treatment 
of  the  Covenant  Angel,  where  he  tahes  us  and 
hears  us  on  Jiis  icings.  AVhen  all  other  dealing 
has  seemed  unavailing,  and  you  would  neither  be 
worried  nor  wooed  to  an  elevated  Christian  life — 
when  he  has  stirred  up  the  nest  and  torn  it  from 
under  you,  and  you  have  just  clung  to  the  near- 
est bough;  Avhen  he  has  fluttered  over  you  and 
spread  his  own  wings  to  your  view,  all  to  teach 
and  tempt  you  heavenward — then,  beyond  all  this, 


THE   eagle's  nest.  319 

he  has  even  come  by  the  sweet  compnlsions  of  his 
grace  and  lifted  you  np  upon  his  own  wings  and 
borne  you  heavenward.  You  have  seen  that  noth- 
ing has  sufficed  but  his  own  ahnighty  power  bear- 
ing you  on  the  bosom  of  k)ve. 

If  you  have  ever  been  Hfted  up  from  your  grov- 
elHng,  it  lias  been  by  the  thought  of  what  an  in- 
finite stoop  he  made,  to  get  you  on  his- wing.  He 
must  needs  get  beneath  3^ou  in  order  to  bear  you 
up.  Angels  came  thronging  out  from  the  sky  and 
hovering  over  the  earth  in  wonder  to  see  whither 
he  had  come,  and  they  could  not  refrain  their  an- 
them, but  even  among  the  clouds  of  this  rebel 
world,  they  sang,  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest 
and  on  earth  peace." 

And  now  you  behold  him  taking  yon,  laying 
hold  upon  you  to  save  you,  bearing  your  sins  upon 
his  soul,  bearing  you  on  the  bosom  of  his  divine 
intercession,  and  carrying  you  along  with  him  on 
the  wing  of  his  own  victorious  ascension;  rising 
from  the  dead  and  ascending  from  earth  for  yon, 
and  bearing  your  names  on  his  sacerdotal  breast- 
plate in  heaven — the  pledges  for  you  till  you  come. 
This  has  made  you  soar — only  this  discovery  of  his 
standing  for  you,  dying  in  your  stead,  vanquish- 
ing death  and  hell  for  you,  and  rising  to  glory  as 
the  Captain  of  your  salvation,  only  this,  at  last, 
has  ever  tempted  you  from  your  nest.  And  when 
you  have  felt  these  sweet  constraints  of  his  love — 
his  own  soft  hand  laid  gently  on  you,  to  give  you 
the  benefit  of  his  triumphant  power  and  grace; 
when  you  have  felt  that  you  could  fly  only  as  his 


320  THE  eagle's  nest. 

wings  bear  you  aloft;  then  you  have  felt  the  in- 
citements to  a  heavenly  living,  and  then,  if  ever, 
you  have  risen  to  the  elevated  Christian  life. 

And  now,  look  back  a  moment  at  the  variety  of 
the  divine  treatment  in  your  case.  See  how  it  has 
all  borne  steadily  to  this  end;  see  how  in  it  all 
there  has  been  the  appliance  of  every  tender  de- 
vice which  infinite  love  could  suggest. 

And  this  is  the  key  to  the  multiplied  a.nd  diverse 
dealings:  first,  the  discipline  has  been  calculated 
to  induce  a  higher  style  of  pray  erf ulness.  You 
have  surely  seen  this.  Your  losses,  sicknesses, 
bereavements,  disappointments,  estrangements,  all 
have  seemed  pointing  you  with  steady  finger  to 
the  mercy-seat.  AVhen  you  were  perhaps  flagging 
in  prayer,  God  has  given  you  something  to  pray 
for;  and  if,  under  the  rod,  you  have  gone  to  pray 
merely  for  present  relief,  so  that  all  the  motive  to 
prayer  would  be  gone  with  the  occasion,  Christ 
has  opened  to  you  there,  amidst  your  tears,  his 
own  heart  of  love,  and  shown  you  the  upper  side 
of  the  matter.  And  you  have  come  to  prayer  in 
the  higher  department  of  its  exercise;  you  have 
studied  and  practised  it  in  the  higher  branches — 
as  a  holy  communion  with  God,  a  happy  soaring 
heavenward,  a  friendly  fellowship  with  the  Father 
and  with  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  And  it  has  come 
to  be  the  very  breath  of  your  being,  and  you  have 
put  away  your  old  worn-out  prayers  for  new  ones ; 
you  have  learned  something  of  the  power  of  prayer 
in  the  amicable  wrestling  with  the  Angel  of  the 
Covenant,  until  the  breaking  of  the  day. 


THE   eagle's   nest.  321 

But  it  was  not  until  your  boasted  human  strength 
had  been  crippled,  and  you  were  sent  halting  to 
the  mercy-seat.  Then  you  have  begun  to  think 
of  prayer  not  merely  as  a  form,  not  merely  as  a 
duty,  but  as  the  highest  privilege  of  the  creature 
and  the  loftiest  freedom  of  a  son.  Ah !  it  was 
therefore,  that  every  grief  dealt  out  to  you  seemed 
a  new  grief — the  loss  of  a  child  so  different  from 
that  of  a  parent,  the  loss  of  a  wife  so  different 
from  that  of  a  child,  the  loss  of  property  so  differ- 
ent again  from  either;  the  treachery  of  friends, 
the  ingratitude  of  children — eacli  the  hardest  to 
bear,  just  because  your  faithful  Father  would,  in 
each  affliction,  try  a  new  device  and  give  you  a 
new  lesson — utter  a  new  call  to  himself  and  ply 
you  with  some  new  parental  discipline  to  this  end. 
And  if  you  have  learned  the  lesson  Avell,  you  have 
found  yourself  now  praying  on  a  new  principle, 
hi  a  new  language  and  temper  of  prayer,  as  differ- 
ent from  the  former  as  that  of  the  publican  from 
the  Pharisee.  And  you  have  found  the  meaning 
of  the  promise — "That  they  that  wait  upon  the 
Lord  shall  renew  their  strength,  shall  mount  up 
on  wings  as  eagles.'' 

And  so,  serjoucUy,  this  series  of  divine  dealings 
has  tended  to  induce  a  higher  style  of  Christian 
reliance— ^faiih  we  call  it,  that  seems  with  some  a 
mere  intellectual  exercise  with  scarce  an  emotion. 
You  may  have  found  it  so  in  its  lower  depart- 
ments. But  then,  perhaps,  God  has  beaten  you 
about  from  the  nest  to  the  bough,  and  from  tree 
to  tree,  until  you  have  been  driven  to  soar  up- 
21 


322  THE  eagle's   nest. 

wards  and  to  seek  your  very  home  in  the  skies 
and  in  his  bosom.  Now  it  is  not  merely  beUef, 
it  is  filial  confidence — implicit,  childlike  reliance. 
It  is  trust;  it  is  the  higher  style  of  faith,  that  is 
deeply  emotional,  deeply  personal,  that  works  by 
love,  takes  hold  of  the  inmost,  utmost  heart,  and 
binds  it  to  the  kindred  heart  of  this  Kinsman  Re- 
deemer in  the  bonds  of  a  fervent  affection. 

Then,  when  you  have  come  to  find  Christ  walk- 
ing among  your  daily  affairs  as  truly  as  he  walks 
among  the  golden  candlesticks  —  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  in  all  providence,  and  you  have  seen 
enough  of  his  dealings,  to  know  that  you  must 
not  repine  at  what  seems  grievous  till  you  see  the 
issue  of  it,  nor  call  any  thing  adversity  till  it  has 
worked  out  its  results ;  Avlien  you  have  heard  him 
say — "  I  am  the  ending  as  well  as  the  beginning 
of  all  providence,  the  last  letter  of  the  alphabet  in 
these  lessons,  as  well  as  the  first,"  and  you  have 
learned  to  look  for  a  bright  noon,  out  of  a  cloudy 
morning — then  you  have  come  to  Avalk  more  by 
faith,  and  faith  has  worked  more  by  love,  and  you 
have  just  thrown  yourself  into  the  arms  of  his 
faithful  and  eternal  covenant. 

And  so,  also,  this  discipline  has  taught  you  the 
lesson  of  Christian  activity  in  its  higher  stages. 
You  have  seen  this  to  be  the  aim  of  his  daily  and 
various  dealing — to  shake  you  from  your  nest  by 
some  means  or  other,  so  as  to  put  you  on  the  wing. 
Therefore,  you  have  found  all  other  sources  and 
streams  of  happiness  dried  up,  saving  only  the 
happiness  that  springs  from  Christian  duty.     Even 


THE   eagle's   nest.  323 

beyond  the  happiness  of  receiving,  whicli  the  world 
counts  its  chiefest  pleasure,  has  been  the  luxury 
and  blessedness  of  giving.  And  when  you  liave 
come  to  this,  then,  indeed,  there  was  tlie  higliest 
evidence  of  your  getting  the  upper  track,  dwelling 
in  the  higher  atmosphere.  You  have  seen  Christ 
showing  to  you  the  crown  of  righteousness,  ex- 
hibiting the  thrones  and  dominions  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  saints  in  glory.  And  you  have 
heard  him  say — "  He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which 
is  least,  is  faithful  also  in  much;  have  thou  au- 
thority over  ten  cities."  And  his  own  dying  love, 
showing  the  scars  on  his  forehead  and  in  his  very 
heart,  has  been  a  powerful  constraint  with  you, 
till  even  his  suifering  has  made  all  suffering  in 
his  service  sweet. 

This  exalted  Christian  life  is  no  fiction,  my  breth- 
ren, nor  yet  will  it  do  to  hold,  that  he  who  can  not 
lay  his  hand  upon  his  heart  and  say  he  has  fully 
attained  to  this,  is  no  Christian.  No!  alas!  This 
is  theory,  but  practically  the  test  is  extravagant. 
Men  do  not  longer  come  into  this  world  in  fall- 
grown  manhood,  like  Adam.  There  must  be  in- 
fancy before  maturity,  there  must  be  much  tend- 
ing and  nursing  and  growing,  much  creeping  and 
staggering  often,  many  sore  bruises  and  much  of 
life's  daily  discipline,  before  we  reach  this  full 
manhood  of  Christian  life.  But  a  Christian,  like  a 
bird,  is  made  to  soar,  and  therefore  he  is  dealt  with 
by  his  faithful  Father  to  drive  him  to  the  wing. 

And,  blessed  be  God !  there  is  this  elevated  style 
of  piety.     The  firefly  lightens  only  as  it  flies;  birds 


324  THE  eagle's  nest. 

of  gay  wing  show  their  plumage,  only  as  they 
soar;  and  none  of  us  can  get  to  heaveii  except  by 
working  up  thither,  climbing  up  by  the  steps  of 
the  ladder,  where  tribulation  works  patience,  and 
patience  Avorks  experience,  and  experience  works 
hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the 
love  of  God — what  God's  love  is  to  men  in  Jesus 
Christ — is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  given  to  us. 

And  now  look  back  upon  the  discipline  of  your 
life  past !  All  along  you  were  too  prone  to  look  at 
second  causes,  and  to  overlook  God's  hand.  Even 
at  the  grave  of  some  brother  Lazarus,  you  heard 
the  voice  of  God  speaking  from  the  clouds  and  you 
referred  it  to  natural  phenomena  and  you  said 
"It  thundered,"  when  it  was  the  tender  voice  of 
the  Covenant  Angel,  speaking  to  your  soul.  Look 
at  your  history  in  this  light!  Literpret  it  all  on 
the  Christian  principle.  See  if  you  can  not  un- 
lock all  its  mysteries  with  this  one  key.  Was  not 
the  chastisement  paternal?  Can  you  not  read  this 
tender,  yearning  love  of  God  in  all  the  severest 
dealings,  emptying  you  from  vessel  to  vessel,  like 
the  Avine,  that  you  may  be  refined?  Can  you  not 
see  the  Covenant  Angel,  every  way  busied  to  draw 
or  drive  you  heavenward?  Look  at  your  prosper- 
ous days  as  wooing  you  to  God,  and  your  adverse 
days  as  worrying  you  to  seek  refuge  and  fellowship 
with  God.  See  how  this  same  good  hand  has  been 
in  all  your  affairs  for  this  same  good  end,  and  how 
sicknesses  and  bereavements,  birthdays  and  burial 
days,  meetings  and  partings,  good  news  and  bad 


THE  eagle's  nest.  325 

news,  new  friendships  and  ruptured  ones,  gains 
and  losses,  all  were  but  the  new  lessons  given  in 
this  great  study  of  a  habitual  cominuiiion  with 
God.  And  then  crowning  all  those  week-day  mer- 
cies and  miseries,  by  which  you  were  disciplined, 
there  came  the  .sweet  Sabbaths  and  the  holy  sacra- 
ments, as  reviews  of  the  lessons. 

And  now,  after  all,  how  much  have  you  really 
and  inwardly  and  practically  learned?  How  much 
higher  do  you  rise  to-day  in  your  devotions  than 
you  did  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  your  new  birth? 
Does  not  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant  yet  stir  up 
your  nest,  flutter  over  you  and  spread  his  wings 
abroad,  take  you  and  bear  you  on  his  Avings? 
And  after  all  this,  are  you  able  to  lay  your  hand 
upon  your  heart  and  say — "  Lord,  thou  knowest 
all  things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee?"  "For 
to  me  to  live  is  Christ" — Christ  for  the  rule  of 
living,  Christ  for  the  motive  of  living,  Christ  for 
the  ideal  of  living,  Christ  for  the  source  and  spring 
of  living,  Christ  for  the  very  definition  of  living ! 
Then,  indeed,  you  may  afford  to  be  in  a  happy 
balance  between  two  Avorlds — to  have  Christ  with 
you  on  earth,  or  to  be  with  Christ  in  lieaven. 
Walking  with  God  like  Enoch,  it  could  not  be 
but  that  you  shall  go  up  to  God,  virtually  Avith- 
out  death — Avithout  its  sting  and  curse  and  bit- 
terness! And  Avhen,  some  day,  men  Avill  inquire 
why  your  place  is  vacant  in  the  business  circle, 
in  the  household,  and  in  the  church,  it  Avill  be 
said — "  He  AA^alked  Avith  God,  and  he  AA^as  not,  for 
God  took  him."     He  Avent  up,  not  in  any  chariot 


326  THE  eagle's  nest. 

of  fire,  but  on  the  soft  wing  of  the  Covenant  An- 
gel. From  where  he  daily  climbed  to  the  topmost 
round  of  Jacob's  ladder,  he  stepped  directly  into 
heaven;  from  Avhere  he  trod  on  the  high-road  of 
Christian  living,  far  np  towards  the  celestial  city, 
he  found  the  door  wide  open  into  the  golden  streets 
of  the  New  Jerusalem. 


XIX. 

OUR    HEAVENLY   HOME. 

*'In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions:  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you." — ^John  xiv.  2. 

It  is  the  blessed  presumption  of  our  Christianity 
that  there  is  a  heaven  for  the  people  of  God.  If  it 
had  not  been  expressly  revealed  it  could  have  been 
plainly  inferred  from  the  whole  Christian  system ; 
not  that  the  eye  hath  seen  it,  though  it  hath  seen 
Sinai  on  fire  and  Jesus  transfigured  in  his  robes  of 
light;  not  that  the  ear  hath  heard  it,  though  it 
hath  heard  the  anthem  of  angels  at  Betlilehem. 
But  God  hath  revealed  it  unto  us,  not  only  in  the 
written  word,  but  in  the  Christian  heart  also,  by 
the  Spirit.  All  the  assaults  of  Satan,  all  the  efforts 
of  skepticism,  all  the  powers  of  the  vain  world,  all 
the  plague  of  the  depraved  nature  can  only  ob- 
scure tlie  prospect  or  stagger  somewhat  the  hope. 
But  the  voice  of  Jesus  is  heard  amidst  all  the  con- 
fusion saying,  in  the  whole  tenor  of  his  teaching, 
— "Be  not  afraid:" — "It  is  so:" — and  "if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you;  because  I  would 
not  have  allowed  you  to  entertain  so  natural  an 
expectation  only  to  be  disappointed."     Fears  come 


328  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

rushing  upon  the  soul,  Hke  the  swelling  billows  of 
the  ocean  just  where  they  foam  in  the  breakers 
and  lash  against  the  shore.  But  amidst  the  deep- 
est darkness  the  signal  lights  are  seen  hung  out 
from  the  very  skies.  And  these  are  responded  to 
by  the  testimonies  within,  as  well  as  by  the  voices 
from  the  garden  and  the  cross,  that  the  whole 
Christian  system  requires  such  a  consummation. 

What  a  sport  of  human  hopes  would  be  made  by 
a  Gospel  that  says  nothing  of  heaven^  by  a  salva- 
tion that  stops  at  the  grave,  by  a  Saviour  who  does 
not  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light.  They, 
therefore,  who  receive  Christ  at  all  do  understand 
that  it  is  for  a  deliverance  which  looks  beyond  the 
grave;  that  it  is  for  an  inheritance  which  would 
be  despoiled  of  its  excellence  and  beauty  if  it  did 
not  lie  far  beyond  the  reach  of  this  present  evil 
world. 

And  so  Jesus,  with  inimitable  tenderness,  comes 
forward  to  the  distressed  disciples  and  administers 
this  magic  consolation.  The  great  cure  for  heart- 
trouble,  he  says,  is  to  believe  in  him,  and  then  he 
announces  this  ultimate  fact  of  a  home  in  heaven 
for  God's  people.  Look  beyond,  he  says.  Fear 
not.  All  that  you  expect  and  more  will  be  yours 
in  glory — "  If  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told 

you." 

We  propose  to  consider  icherein  it  is  the  presump- 
tion of  our  Christianity  that  there  is  a  heaven  for 
the  people  of  God. 

First :  A  heaven  is  to  be  presumed  hy  the  char- 
acter and  the  life  of  Jesus  on  earth. 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  329 

Look  upon  him  as  you  will,  I  challenge  the 
blackest  infidelity  to  say  that  he  belongs  to  this 
earthly  sphere.  You  would  know  that  his  Father's 
house  was  not  even  on  some  most  favored  island  of 
our  globe,  nor  in  some  royal  domain  such  as  mon- 
archs  have  fitted  up  for  themselves.  His  works, 
his  tastes,  his  longings,  his  affinities,  were  every 
hour  proving  him  to  be  the  tenant  of  some  bright- 
er realm.  And  his  miraculous  life,  and  his  mira- 
culous resurrection  and  ascension,  all  discovered  to 
men  that  a  better  world  than  ours  must  claim  him, 
and  that  somewhere  in  God's  great  universe  there 
must  be  a  land  of  purity  and  blessedness  and  peace 
and  glory  such  as  would  be  congenial  to  him. 

He  came  down  amongst  these  human  circles  and 
traversed  our  sinful  sphere,  a  living  exception  to 
the  race,  a  personal  contradiction  to  the  great  uni- 
versal law  of  depravity. 

So  he  announced  himself  as  the  Way  to  some 
other  region,  and  the  Truth  in  open  refutation  of 
the  world's  errors,  and  the  Life  in  the  highest  sense, 
and  beyond  all  this  dying  life  of  ours.  And  wher- 
ever he  Avent  it  was  as  if  odors  from  the  Isles  of 
the  Blest  were  emptied  upon  the  air  —  the  sick 
revived,  the  dying  were  healed,  the  dead  were 
raised,  and  all  pointed  to  a  superior  department 
of  being.  It  was  as  if  the  Avhole  host  of  angels 
had  been  sent  down  to  open  to  view  that  other 
circle  of  society  and  that  upper  Avorld  of  light. 
No  wonder  that  his  disciples,  catching  gleams  of 
his  glory,  asked  him,  "Whither  goest  thou?"  And 
no  wonder  that  his  reply  to  their  question  was, 


330  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

"Whither  1  go  ye  know  and  the  way  ye  know," 
but  ye  can  not  follow  me  noiv.  No  wonder  that 
beholders  inquired  whence  he  came. 

And  therefore  it  is,  that  however  our  Christian 
faith  may  be  puzzled  to  fix  the  locality  of  heaven 
— in  what  fair  planet  or  star  of  God's  universe — 
Jesus  is  the  blest  object  whose  home,  "we  know,  is 
heaven.  And  we  are  content  to  rest  on  this  assur- 
ance, that  where  he  is,  there  we  shall  be  also.  Not 
in  a  mere  spirit-world,  for  there  is  his  glorified 
hody !  His  life,  it  was,  no  less  than  his  doctrine, 
which  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light.  And 
therefore  it  is  that,  following  in  his  footsteps,  we 
know  we  can  trace  the  shining  road  to  where  he 
enters  in  and  is  at  home  in  the  Father's  house. 

And  so  also,  secondly:  All  the  relations  ivliich  lip 
instituted  here  loith  sinners  proved  that  his  object  was 
to  make  us  felloiv-i^esidents  ivith  him  in  heaven. 

He  showed  us,  that  surely  as  there  is  such  a 
world  of  blessedness,  so  surely  he  came  to  take 
us  up  thither.  If  he  is  the  Living  Head  and  we 
are  the  members,  how  can  these  parts  of  the  one 
body  be  forever  separated,  or  where  shall  the  liv- 
ing members  be,  but  with  the  Living  Head?  This 
was  the  whole  drift  of  his  teachings,  and  the  whole 
tendency  of  his  system.  So  that  if  you  should 
strike  out  from  our  Christianity  the  heritage  beyond^ 
to  which  it  invites  us,  it  Avould  be  only  a  system 
of  severest  disappointment,  and  most  self-contra- 
dictory in  all  its  terms.  "  If  in  this  life  only  we 
have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most 
miserable." 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  331 

But  consider,  if  he  is  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
where,  or  when,  is  the  shepherd  office  to  be  exer- 
cised so  deHcately  and  tenderly  and  surely  and 
effectively,  as  when  we  come  to  the  dark  valley 
and  deep  shadow  of  death — with  a  view  to  our 
passing  triumphantly  through  all  the  darkness  and 
danger  to  the  other  side  ?  And  so,  if  he  is  the 
Life  of  men,  as  the  living  vine  to  the  branches,  is 
it  not  in  reference  to  the  life  eternal,  which  is  only 
at  best  initiated  here  below,  of  which  this  is  but 
the  infancy? 

The  religion  of  Christ  has  for  its  foundation-doc- 
trine the  truth  of  the  resurrection,  as  instanced  in 
the  triumphant  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  as  to  be 
gloriously  illustrated  and  fulfilled  in  that  of  his  re- 
deemed people.  And  he  is  not  only  the  Resurrec- 
tion, but  he  is  also  the  Life  Eternal  wliich  makes 
the  resurrection  precious.  And  so,  if  this  religion 
be  not  our  strength  in  a  dying  hour,  and  our  com- 
fort over  the  open  grave,  it  fails  just  where  we 
need  it  most^and  where  it  promises  us  the  strong- 
est consolation.  But  here  it  does  not  fail.  Here 
it  blazes  forth  in  its  utmost  effulgence  at  the  dark- 
est point. 

So  also,  thirdly,  God  has  alloiued  us  glimpses  of 
that  heavenly  ivorld,  from  ivhere  the  gates  have  stood 
ajar  for  a  moment,  and  the  inner  glory  has  been 
revealed. 

Enocli,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  entered  in  there 
without  the  formality  of  death;  and  his  body  was 
changed,  as  the  bodies  of  those  believers  shall  be 
changed  who  are  found  on  earth  when  Christ  shall 


332  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

appear  at  the  consummation.  Hoio  that  primitive 
saint  went  up  we  know  not.  It  seemed  to  have 
been  by  some  vanishing,  as  of  one  that  is  caught 
up  in  a  cloud,  or  a  whirlwind  of  glory;  or  as  of 
some  star  that  merges  into  day  —  "as  sets  the 
morning  star,  that  goes  not  down  behind  the  dark- 
ened west."  x\nd  so  that  heavenly  state  was  re- 
vealed to  the  antediluvian  world. 

And  then,  again,  under  the  law  —  Elijah,  the 
prophet  of  Israel,  was  caught  up  with  all  the  dis- 
play of  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of  fire,  and  a 
whirlwind. 

And  then,  still  further,  and  nearer  to  us,  that 
same  Elijah  was  seen  again — returned  to  earth 
along  with  Moses,  who  died  on  Mount  Nebo;  and 
there  they  stood  together,  in  their  robes  of  light, 
on  that  golden  summit  of  the  transfiguration. 

And  still  again,  and  still  nearer,  Jesus  himself 
was  caught  up  from  Olivet  in  a  cloud  of  glory  and 
parted  from  the  sight  of  men. 

These  mountain  summits  of  the  eai>^i  have  thus 
seemed  to  touch  the  skies;  and  gleams  of  "the 
Delectable  Mountains"  have  gilded  these  very  hill- 
tops Avhere  we  travel  in  darkness,  looking  out  for 
the  eternal  day.  And  so,  whenever  a  fellow-Chris- 
tian has  passed  in  there  from  our  own  circles,  we 
have  seen  something  of  the  celestial  effulgence 
beaming  through  where  he  entered. 

And  fourthly :  This  Christian  system  throughout 
implies  such  an  estate  beyond^  as  it  is  a  system  of 
longing  and  praying  and  icaiting  and  progressing 
till  ive  arrive  where  Jesus  is.     The  heart,  therefore 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  333 

that  lias  not  been  touclied  with  any  yearning  for 
such  a  blest  abode,  has  not  begun  to  conceive  what 
the  Christian  system  is,  as  a  system  of  aspiration 
and  elevation  and  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  and 
of  glorification  with  him  forever. 

But  every  believer  has  had  his  faith  rise  to  some 
height  of  heavenly  contemplation,  has  had  it,  more 
or  less,  take  in  that  otlier  and  celestial  sphere, 
and,  with  the  help  of  Scripture,  he  has  pictured 
to  himself  its  glories,  and  has,  perhaps,  imagined 
himself  seated  down  in  its  eternal  mansions.  Just 
as  when  the  traveller  has  climbed  the  highest 
summit  to  get  a  view  of  the  Alpine  snow-peaks, 
and  he  has  found  the  mists  gathered  round  the 
glorious  crests,  and  he  has  sat  down  in  weariness 
and  disappointment.  But  presently  the  mis't-clouds 
have  parted  and,  one  by  one,  the  snow-peaks  stood 
forth  to  view,  and  then  all  of  them  together, 
wreathed  round  with  the  gossamer,  and  standing 
forth  in  every  various  phase  of  majesty  and  beauty, 
and  then  at  sunset  the  golden  glory,  resting  on 
the  summits,  have  made  them  to  seem  like  the 
gate-way  of  heaven — all  the  more  luminous  and 
glorious  for  the  circling  veils  which  at  first  had 
obscured  them. 

"  And  what  if  earth 
Be  but  the  shadow  of  heaven  and  things  therein 
Each  to  other  like,  more  than  on  earth  is  thought  ?'* 

These  heavens  and  this  earth  are  types  of  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth  which  shall  be. 


334  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

"Many  a  joj^nl  sight  is  given, 

Many  a  lovely  vision  here: 
Hill  and  vale  and  starry  even, 

Friendship's  smile — affection's  tear — 
These  are  shadows,  sent  in  love. 
Of  realities  above." 

And  now  Jesus  speaks  to  warrant  all  that  the 
most  lively  conception  has  ever  painted — to  legiti- 
mate it  all  as  none  too  glowing-,  none  too  briglit, 
none  too  assured;  that  the  reality  is  rather  infi- 
nitely transcending  all  that  we  ever  conceived. 
He  describes  it,  rather,  by  ivhat  it  is  7iot,  than  by 
what  it  is.  No  night  there;  no  sorrow,  nor  sigh- 
ing, nor  tears,  nor  any  more  pain.  He  says  that 
this  Christian  faith  of  ours,  that  goes  out  and  fixes 
upon  such  a  blessed  world,  shall  in  nowise  be  dis- 
appointed ;  that  all  that  we  have  inferred  from  his 
teachings  and  from  our  longings  about  that  estate, 
shall  be  more  than  realized  in  the  fruition.  And 
that  "if  it  were  not  so" — that  there  is  a  Father's 
house  for  us  as  well  as  for  Mm — he  would  not 
have  allowed  us  to  remain  a  moment  under  the 
misconception,  but  he  would  have  told  us  not  to 
expect  it. 

First,  then,  the  heavenly  world  is  fairly  to  be 
presumed  —  considered  as  the  Fathers  house  of 
Jesus. 

We  come  in  our  feeble  faith,  like  those  early  dis- 
ciples, beholding  this  Lamb  of  God,  wondering  and 
asking  of  him — "Where  dwellest  thou?"  And  he 
replies  to  us — "(7ome  and  see!''  He  has  excited 
our  desire  to  dwell  where  he  dwells;  his  home  we 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  335 

would  have  to  be  our  home.  All  his  human  iuter- 
course  has  awakened  this  sympathy  and  affinity. 
And  shall  it  be  disappointed?  We  hear  him  all 
along  his  path  crying,  "Follow  me:  I  will  show 
you  the  way:  I  Avill  clear  it  of  obstacles.  Come 
on."  We  inquire,  therefore,  to  what  realm  he  be- 
longs. And  it  is  to  this  very  point  that  he  here 
speaks,  and  enlightens  us  about  the  extensive  ar- 
rangements there  in  his  Paternal  abode. 

He  means,  clearly,  that  there  can  be  no  such 
restrictions  and  limitations  there,  as  belong  to  these 
earthly  habitations — that  in  his  Father's  house  there 
is  room  for  all  the  children,  no  less  than  for  him- 
self. Did  he  not  say  to  i\Iary,  "I  ascend  unto  my 
Father  and  your  Father,  and  unto  my  God  and 
your  God?"  And  is  not  his  Sonship  the  very  basis 
of  our  sonship?  Do  Ave  not  become  sons  just  be- 
cause he  is  the  eternal  "well-beloved  Son,"  "the 
first-born  among  many  brethren,"  who  has  the 
birthright  place  and  privilege?  And  "he  is  not 
ashamed  to  call  us  brethren,"  just  because  "he 
hatli  prepared  for  us  a  city."  And  if  this  be  so, 
his  Father's  house  is  our  Father's  house,  and  what 
he  means  here  is  that  the  grand  Paternal  homestead 
has  many  mansions. 

The  first  idea  in  this  phrase  is  the  manifold 
acco  m  modafions. 

There  is  such  amplitude,  such  variety.  This 
could  also  be  fairly  presumed.  Not  all  alike  for 
all  the  children,  for  the  very  reason  that  they  are 
not  all  alike  in  respect  to  training  and  culture  and 
development.     As  the  life  yonder  is  to  be  presumed 


336  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

from  the  life  here,  so  that  hfe  must  be  supposed  to 
be  the  continuation  of  this,  according  to  the  laws 
of  mental  and  moral  being. 

Some  may  reach  that  heavenly  land  the  merest 
babes  in  Christ,  and  some  all  dwarfed  compara- 
tively— no  high  expansion  of  their  powers  in  abun- 
dant works  of  faith  and  love — no  full  unfolding  of 
the  soul  to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ.  And  though  there  shall  be  no  imperfec- 
tion which  could  imply  defect  or  infer  the  presence 
of  sin,  yet  all  perfection  is  not  the  same.  There  is 
a  perfect  child,  and  yet  that  is  not  a  perfect  man, 
nor  that  a  perfect  giant^  nor  that  a  perfect  artist, 
nor  a  perfect  warrior.  According  to  the  pathway 
of  each,  must  be  the  landing;  according  to  the 
race  must  be  the  chaplet;  and  according  to  the 
victory  must  be  the  crown.  Even  among  angels 
there  are  cherubim  and  seraphim — angels  whose 
specialty  is  knowledge,  and  angels  whose  specialty 
is  love.  So  there  are  archangels,  and  among  these 
there  are  thrones  and  dominions  and  principalities 
and  powers.  There  is  room  there  for  the  babes  in 
Christ.  There  must  therefore  be  an  infinite  vari- 
ety, according  to  an  infinite  aptitude.  All  shall 
not  live  in  the  same  house,  but  each  under  the 
same  spanning  firmament  of  love,  and  as  under 
the  same  grand  roof  of  the  Father's  house  of 
Jesus. 

The  next  idea  of  the  phrase  is,  that  these  mani- 
fold accommodations  are  divelling-places — abodes,  as 
the  term  is — not  temporary,  like  these  tents  whicli 
are  so  easily  blown  down  by  the  gale,  or  swept 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  337 

away  Avith  the  flood,  but  places  for  an  abiding 
residence. 

This  also  could  be  fairly  presumed.  If  Ave  are 
pilgrims,  as  we  are,  Ave  are  journeying  to  a  bet- 
ter father-land.  If  Ave  are  disturbed  in  these 
poor  houses  of  clay  that  are  crushed  before  the 
moth,  it  is  that  Ave  may  enter  the  more  permanent 
habitation. 

This  Christian  hope,  that,  Avith  such  steady  fin- 
ger points  us  forward  and  upward,  points  to  tliis, 
if  to  any  thing — an  enduring  home.  That  Avhich 
this  shifting  scene  makes  us  long  for — to  get  to 
some  quiet  retreat  that  shall  be  "incorruptible, 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away  " ;  that  Avhich 
is  the  high  ideal  of  the  soul  is  precisely  Avhat  is 
variously  painted  to  our  vision,  and  delineated 
in  the  text.  All  variety  there  to  suit  the  case  of 
eA^ery  redeemed  and  pure  spirit;  and  all  perma- 
nency to  leave  no  fear  of  change,  nor  any  pang  at 
the  prospect  of  departure. 

And  tlien,  that  this  abiding  residence  shall  be 
home  —  cheery  and  blessed;  the  fondest  resting- 
place  of  the  soul,  the  dear  centre  of  its  joys  and 
the  spl>ere  of  its  endearments.  jMore  Avelcome 
than  home  could  CA^er  be  to  any  poor  traA^eller 
Avho  comes  in,  after  the  dusty  and  famishing  and 
sleepless  traA^el  to  the  happy  homestead  on  earth ; 
more  hearty  and  happy  greetings  of  the  great  glo- 
rified family,  through  all  tlie  membership.  All  tliat 
Avas  lacking  to  make  home  the  perfect  fruition  of 
every  bliss,  and  that  to  all  eternitj^,  shall  be  there 
enjoyed.  Absence  from  the  body  becomes  bliss, 
22 


338  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

because  it  is  to  be  "at  home  with  the  Lord,"  as 
tiie  term  is. 

All  analogy  warrants  this  conclusion.  The  bird 
upon  whose  back  God  has  fashioned  the  wings, 
finds  the  broad  sky  made  for  it  to  fly  in;  and  the 
fish  whose  fins  are  fitted  for  the  watery  element 
finds  the  seas  and  rivers  for  its  appropriate  life; 
and  shall  the  soul  that  is  winged  and  plumed  for 
glory,  find  no  sky  in  which  to  soar  ? 

And  so,  in  truth,  it  is,  as  to  all  the  Scriptural 
types  or  images  of  our  home  in  heaven;  they  are 
tlie  fullest  response  to  our  felt  necessity.  There- 
fore this  is  the  nature  of  the  presumption.  There 
shall  be  the  utter  absence  of  all  evil,  and  the  full- 
est presence  and  experience  of  all  good.  What- 
ever we  sigh  for  here  in  vain,  whatever  we  could 
possibly  enjoy  there,  whatever  could  enter  into  the 
cup  of  delight  for  a  ransomed  creature,  njust  needs 
be  comprised  in  that  one  magic  word,  heaven  !  And 
hence  whatever  sorrow  or  sighing  or  pain  there  is 
here,  must  give  place  to  the  rich  and  overwhehn- 
ing  enjoyment.  "In  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joij'' 
— such  as  fills  the  vessel  to  the  utmost,  and  makes 
it  brim  over  with  the  fulness. 

Consider  then,  further,  the  general  idea  involved 
in  the  item  of  a  mansion  is,  that  it  shall  be  our  pos- 
session of  a  dwelling — not  rented,  but  owned. 

We  are  always  aiming  here  to  possess  soinewhat 
tliat  we  can  call  ours,  especially  an  abode  which 
we  call  a  home.  We  are  often  fretting  for  more 
than  we  have  or  can  have.  This  aim,  that  in 
some  worldly  minds  rises  to  the  pitch  of  an  ava- 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  339 

ricioiis  grasping,  adding  house  to  house,  and  field 
to  field,  and  leading  to  the  enlargement  of  barns 
and  storehouses,  as  the  depositories  of  tlieir  goods, 
is,  in  the  limited  sense,  natural.  And,  in  so  far  as 
it  is  a  legitimate  aim,  the  presumption  is,  that 
heaven  shall  be  the  spliere  for  its  highest  grati- 
fication. 

So  the  Scripture,  alluding  to  this  principle,  delin- 
eates that  happy  estate  as  an  inheritance.  It  is  an 
inheritance,  as  a  patrimony,  coming  to  us  through 
our  sonsliip.  "If  children,  then  heirs!"  If  chil- 
dren of  God,  then  heirs  of  God;  and  if  children  of 
the  same  Father  as  Jesus  himself,  then  joint  heirs 
with  Jesus.  Sharers  Avith  him  in  the  heritage — so 
that  whatever  belongs  to  him  becomes  ours  to  en- 
joy as  partners  of  his  heritage,  members  of  the 
body  of  which  he  is  the  Head. 

Then  it  is  a  ijossession  of  holiness. 

This  is  an  inward  treasure.  This,  therefore,  is 
an  article  of  wealth  not  reckoned  by  the  banker, 
nor  quoted  in  the  market  nor  valued  by  the  w^orld. 
And  yet  it  is  just  the  richest  of  all  treasures,  be- 
cause it  is  an  estate  of  tlie  soul;  real  estate  in  the 
highest  sense,  as  distinct  from  mere  chattel  and 
movable  estate,  and  inalienable.  And  just  because 
all  peace  and  rest  and  true  felicity  must  have  their 
seat  in  the  inward  condition — just  as  the  glory  of 
this  Gospel  is  to  open  a  fountain  within  the  soul, 
as  a  well  of  water,  springing  up  to  everlasting  life, 
so  we  accept  this  as  the  highest  boon — the  posses- 
sion of  an  undefiled  nature,  personal  estate  as  being 
always  available. 


340  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

This  internal  grace  makes  the  inheritance  unde- 
filed,  as  no  power  in  the  universe  could  make  it 
to  us,  without  this.  To  bear  the  very  likeness  of 
Jesus — not  in  any  mere  superficial  impression, 
such  as  a  stamp  upon  the  wax  could  give,  not  in 
the  mere  physique^  resembling  the  man  Christ  Je- 
sus, but  in  an  inward  and  spiritual  transformation, 
to  have  the  elements  of  the  divine  life  in  the  soul, 
so  as  to  be  Uving  on  the  same  great  principles  as 
God  lives — ah!  this  is  it — with  divine  tastes  and 
heavenly  affinities,  aims  and  joys.  This  is  the 
chief  possession. 

And  just  because  it  so  belongs  to  the  very  text- 
ure of  the  soul  itself,  it  can  never  be  alienated  in 
the  least.  This,  therefore,  must  be  the  nature  of 
the  heavenly  mansion.  As  it  implies  rest,  and 
home,  and  these  can  not  exist  in  their  liighest 
sense  without  holiness  of  nature,  so  we  find  that 
it  is  no  palatial  residence  even  of  most  enduring- 
fabric,  for  even  the  solid  granite  would  crumble  in 
the  heat  or  be  demolished  in  some  convulsion  of 
matter.  The  home  and  the  rest  and  the  inherit- 
ance that  is  incorruptible  and  undefiled  must  be 
the  soufs  possession  of  an  inward  holiness,  Aviiich 
is  shared  with  Jesus  Christ — the  divine  nature  of 
which  we  become  partakers  through  him.  It  is 
therefore  notified  to  us  that  it  is  a  home  in  the 
Father's  house,  a  home  for  us  as  cliildren  of  the 
Father,  and  as  bearing  liis  image  and  likeness 
within  for  all  eternity;  and  so  lieaven  must  be, 
according  to  the  whole  presumption  of  the  case, 
the  possession  of  whatever  would  enhance  at  all 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  341 

the  enjoyment  of  the  blessed.  Tliis  idea  is  also 
involved  in  the  many  and  various  mansions,  to 
suit  the  particidar  case  of  each — of  Abraham,  of 
Isaac,  of  Jacob,  and  of  you  and  me. 

So  it  is  spoken  of,  again,  as  a  kingdom^  mean- 
ing evidently  that  just  as  one's  home  is  his  king- 
dom, in  so  far  as  it  is  a  home  to  him,  so  there  the 
redeemed  saint  shall  have  fullest  range  and  sway 
amidst  all  the  wealth  of  delights,  privileged  to  en- 
ter upon  the  occupanc}^  of  whatever  realm  or  sphere 
of  pleasure  belongs  to  the  kingdom  of  Jesus,  wear- 
ing the  crown  of  that  kingdom,  though  he  were 
a  beggar  here  on  earth;  proprietor,  now,  by  vir- 
tue of  his  heavenly  heritage,  of  such  a  domain  as 
no  mortal  ever  conceived,  Avith  royal  titles  upon 
his  breast,  royal  diadem  upon  his  brow,  all  such 
as  Jesus  himself  wears,  and  all  possessed  by  virtue 
of  oneness  with  him. 

Now,  if  you  stagger  at  the  thought  of  such  glory 
for  a  child  of  the  dust,  consider  Avhat  is  the  pre- 
sumption of  the  whole  Christian  system.  It  is  free 
grace  to  sinners.  It  is  nothing  for  any  being  of 
our  race  except  in  Jesus.  But  it  is  every  thing  in 
Jesus,  offered  to  the  vilest  of  mankind.  If  he  is 
the  Head,  and"  we  are  the  members  of  one  and  the 
same  body,  then  in  this  complex  person  all  the  ful- 
ness above  must  be  enjoyed.  Then  take  the  sur- 
vey. Ask  what  inheritance  is  his,  and  call  it  yovnvs 
also,  if  you  stand  in  Christ.  Is  it  that  a  redeemed 
sinner  is  to  be  placed  on  a  footing  with  righteous 
Abel,  or  with  Abraham  the  friend  of  God,  or  with 
John  who  leaned  on  the  bosom  of  Jesus,  or  with 


M^  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

Mary  his  mother,  or  ]\Iaiy  who  anointed  his  feet 
for  his  burial,  or  with  Gabriel?  No!  but  with 
Jesus  Mmself. 

But,  farther,  there  is  the  possession  of  hioidedcjc 
which  must  be  presumed  as  belonging  to  heaven. 

This  idea  is  involved  in  the  text.  For  it  is  the 
joyous  certainty  and  realization  that  is  here  prom- 
ised beyond  all  doubt.  For  knowledge  is  the  aim 
of  our  higher  nature,  which  must  surely  be  grati- 
fied there. 

Ye  doubting  Christians,  who  wonder  what  is  be- 
yond, in  the  great  future,  I  tell  jow  now,  he  says, 
as  you  shall  soon  rapturously  know  it  for  your- 
selves, if  you  are  children.  And  "if  it  were  not 
so  I  would  have  told  you."  The  tree  of  knowledge 
in  the  midst  of  the  old  paradise  must  surely  reap- 
pear in  the  new  paradise,  along  with  the  tree  of 
hfe.  And  this  fruit  shall  no  more  be  interdicted. 
Then  it  shall  be  notified,  "Of  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge of  good  and  evil,  thou  mayest  eat."  It  never 
was  the  nature  of  the  fruit,  but  only  the  nature  of 
finite  man,  that  made  that  original  restriction  in 
Eden. 

We  are  left  to  inference  here,  as  to  what  range 
of  knowledge,  what  researches  into  God's  works, 
what  traversing  of  the  material  and  moral  uni- 
verse, what  high  calculations  in  the  profoundest 
science  and  philosophy  shall  be  allowed  us.  No 
tongue  can  tell.  But  we  conclude  that  such  inves- 
tigations as  the  mind  is  fitted  for,  and  such  as 
have  only  been  distantly  approached  here,  will 
fill  the  utmost  capacity  there  and  forever.     With 


OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME.  343 

powers  of  mind  immensely  enlarged,  and  faculties 
exquisitely  refined  and  glorified,  the  boundless  field 
will  open  to  the  enraptured  view.  So  that  there 
never  will  come  a  period,  all  down  those  intermi- 
nable ages,  Avhen  knowledge  will  cease  to  fiow  in 
upon  the  delighted  intellect,  or  when  any  barrier 
will  be  set  up  to  the  range  of  the  mind  in  all  the 
fields  of  exploration.  God,  creation,  history,  prov- 
idence, Scripture,  redemption,  retribution  —  such 
themes,  such  volumes,  spread  out  for  all  eternity ! 
How  Jesus  will  communicate  of  this  boundless 
knowledge.  Already  he  says,  "  I  have  called  you 
friends,  for  all  things  that  I  have  heard  of  my 
Father  I  have  made  known  unto  you."  And  we 
shall  enter  into  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  as  he  is, 
in  all  his  ofiices,  in  his  personal  offices  for  us,  the 
full  knowledge  of  redeeming  love  in  all  its  annals, 
where  it  passeth  knowledge  here. 

And  further  still,  there  is  included  all  the  appro- 
priate  occupation  for  all  eternity. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  from  the  whole  Christian 
system,  that  all  fitting  emptloTjment  is  reserved  for 
lis  in  heaven.  And  this  idea  is  also  involved  in 
the  text.  For  home  has  never  its  charm  from  a 
mere  lazy  indolence,  where  time  hangs  heavy;  and 
(eternity  would  be  insuff'erable.  The  home  occu- 
ipations  sweeten  the  delights  of  home,  give  relish 
to  the  daily  meal,  create  ever-increasing  bonds  of 
sympathy  in  the  household,  and  give  play  to  all 
the  finest  feelings  of  our  nature.  What  is  home 
if  there  be  no  objects  of  fond  endearment  to  en- 
gage the  thought  and  occupy  the  attention  and 


344  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

aJGfection,  and  give  zest  to  the  daily  occupation  ? 
And  so,  heaven  is  spoken  of  as  a  sanctuary  into 
which  the  Great  High-priest  has  entered,  and  we 
enter  with  him  as  "  priests  unto  God  and  the  Fa- 
ther." It  is  a  round  of  priestly  services,  chiefly 
the  offering  of  the  sacrifice  of  praise. 

Yet  who  shall  say  that  the  celestial  tenantry  are 
debarred  from  doing  good  to  others  in  their  sub- 
lime spheres  ?  Not  indeed,  as  charity  can  here  be 
done,  among  the  needy  brethren,  but  as  angels 
minister  now  to  us,  so  may  we  not  minister  to 
other  orders  of  being,  or  even  to  angels,  to  return 
somewhat  of  their  manifold  and  blessed  service, 
reciting  to  them  at  least  the  story  of  our  personal 
salvation?  And  in  the  glorified  body,  those  spir- 
itual frames  in  which  we  shall  be  clothed  shall 
have  their  highest  employment — works  worthy  of 
the  house  "not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens." 

And,  finally,  as  further  belonging  to  the  idea  of 
the  text,  and  as  the  necessary  charm  of  the  many 
mansions,  is  the  glorious  personal  and  social  reunion^ 
which  must  be  enjoyed  there — the  mutual  gratula- 
tion,  each  in  the  other  rejoicing,  all  rejoicing  in 
Jesus,  and  Jesus  rejoicing  in  all. 

Already  as  one  enters  before  us  we  seem  to  over- 
hear the  happy  greetings  of  the  great  family  with- 
in, and  to  catch  glimpses  of  the  glory  through  the 
open  door-way.  AVhat  do  we  long  for  in  heaven 
next  to  seeing  Jesus,  so  much  as  we  long  for  a  rec- 
ognition of  Christian  friends  gone  before?  There 
is  a  chord  in  every  heart  which  is  touched  and 


OUR    HEAVENLY     HOME.  345 

thrilled  by  this  expectation.  It  is  not  explicitly 
revealed,  jnst  in  so  many  words,  but  it  is  most  pos- 
itively implied  and  pi-esumed.  The  royal  mourner, 
the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel,  as  he  wept  over  a 
departed  cliild  expressed  a  balmy  thought  for  be- 
reaved parents,  who  have  laid  their  treasures  early 
in  the  tomb,  when  he  said,  "He  shall  not  come  to 
me,  but  I  shall  go  to  him." 

What  is  home  without  such  a  recognition  of  the 
members  in  the  happy  circle?  Could  it  be  that 
God  has  fitted  up  the  Father  s  house  for  the  chil- 
dren, with  all  its  boundless  hospitalities,  and  yet 
they  Avho  have  gone  up  thither  from  the  same 
earthly  household  shall  not  know  each  other  there? 
The  joy  you  daily  take  in  greeting  your  relatives 
and  friends — nay,  even  the  pure  pleasure  you  feel 
in  collecting  their  photographs  Avithin  a  clasped 
volume  of  your  own,  turning  over  the  leaves  of 
such  a  magic  mirror,  where  you  gather  them  at 
will  in  a  sweet  circle  around  you — all  this  is  only 
the  natural  inward  yearning  which  is  to  be  so  per- 
fectly gratified  there.  No  matter  how  refined  and 
exquisitely  attenuated  shall  be  that  spiritual  body 
it  shall  be  a  body  nevertheless;  all  the  more  deli- 
cate and  fairy-like  as  it  shall  put  off  this  grossness 
of  the  common  flesh.  And  when  even  the  image 
Avhich  the  light  of  day  imprints  upon  the  snow- 
white  paper  smiles  upon  you,  and  seems  to  speak, 
though  it  be  only  a  thing  of  the  sunlight,  could  it 
be  that  the  spiritual  body  should  have  no  features, 
or  that  those  features  which  that  soul  has  seemed 
to  make  should  not  be  for  the  delighted  eye  of 


346  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

companion  and  bosom  friend?  And  should  we  be 
allowed  to  go  through  the  streets  of  that  New 
Jerusalem  inquiring  in  vain  for  those  whom  our 
soul  loveth,  and  whom  we  expected  to  meet  again, 
and  to  greet  again,  in  the  eternal  reunion  tliere  ? 
So  Jesus  comforted  the  weeping  sisters  wlien  he 
said,  "Your  brother  shall  rise  again;"  and  he  com- 
forted the  sorrowing  Mary  at  his  sepnldire  by  the 
joyous  words,  "I  ascend  unto  my  Father,  and  your 
Father."  Oh!  how  could  heaven  be  heaven  indeed, 
if  such  a  yearning  of  our  hearts  were  denied  us, 
and  if  we  could  never  recognize  again  the  pure 
and  lovely  and  good  who  shone  here  in  the  image 
of  Jesus,  and  were  folded  together  with  us,  in  the 
same  Shepherd's  arms? 

Yes,  and  more  than  this.  Why  should  we  not 
recognize  all  the  great  and  good  of  whom  we  have 
ever  read  or  heard — Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
and  Paul,  and  John,  and  the  jMarys,  and  the  mar- 
tyrs, and  the  reformers,  and  all  the  great  benefac- 
tors of  our  race  ?  Why  not  ?  Shall  not  heaven  be 
made  most  pleasant  to  us  b}^  our  being  introduced 
to  them,  one  by  one,  among  the  glorified  throng, 
and  learning  the  story  of  salvation  from  the  tongue 
of  each  ?  And  then  if  Jesus  was  a  friend  on  earth, 
"the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand,"  it  must  be  sur- 
passing joy  to  recognize  his  features,  and  to  see 
the  halo  of  glory  that  sits  upon  his  thorn-crowned 
forehead,  and  to  behold  the  scars  of  liis  crucifixion 
beaming  in  his  hands  and  feet  and  side.  At  the 
resurrection,  they  who  have  loved  him  and  longed 
for  his  abode  shall  be  clothed  in  a  body  like  his 


OUR    HEAVrNLY    HOME.  347 

own.  "  He  will  change  our  vile  body  that  it  may 
be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious  body."  "And 
as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we 
^hall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly."  We 
shall  know  each  other  there,  even  as  we  are  known 
here.  And  so  they  know  us  now.  They  look  out 
of  the  window  upon  our  path,  as  we  are  led  by  the 
good  Shepherd,  and  so  they  await  our  return,  as 
they  see  us  nearing  our  heavenly  home. 

"Jerusalem  the  Golden; 

There  all  our  birds  that  flew, — 
Our  flowers  but  half-unfolden, 

Our  pearls  that  turned  to  dew, — 
And  all  the  glad  life-music 

Now  heard  no  longer  here, 
Shall  come  again  to  greet  us, 

As  we  are  drawing  near." 

My  brethren,  if  heaven  is  our  proper  home — if 
there  our  hearts  and  treasures  are — then  death 
ought  to  be  welcome.  Nay,  then  we  may  bear 
poverty,  losses,  crosses,  all  ills  of  life,  and  rejoice 
in  the  glorious  prospect.  Nay,  we  could  even  say, 
like  a  devout  Christian  on  his  death-bed,  "/  am 
homesick^ 

But  is  this  your  real  affinity?  Would  you  find 
heaven  to  be  your  home,  even  if  God  should  open 
wide  its  gates  to  you?  Would  you  find  there  your 
home  circle,  your  fond  endearments,  your  favor- 
ite occupations,  your  most  cherished  friendships? 
And  would  your  freed  spirit  sit  down  there  as  in 
your  Father  s  house,  and  among  your  brethren  of 
the  same  happy  family  ?     Or  would  your  heaven 


348  OUR    HEAVENLY    HOME. 

be  in  the  festive  circle  of  Avorldliness  ?  Would  it 
be,  then,  that  all  the  glories  of  that  blessed  realm 
should  afford  you  no  pleasure,  just  because  of  your 
earthy  and  depraved  tastes  and  desires — -just  be- 
cause of  an  unrenovated  nature  ?  Would  you  your- 
self probably  feel  there  as  one  feels  who  is  ushered 
into  a  festive  company,  where  he  is  an  utter  stran- 
ger and  is  not  recognized  by  the  circle,  just  be- 
cause he  has  nothing  in  common  with  them  ? 
Then  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  place,  nor  of  the 
proprietor.  It  is  not  God's  fault,  nor  any  fault  of 
heaven.  But  it  is  the  alienation  of  your  own  soul 
from  all  that  is  good  and  happy  and  blest  in  the 
presence  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  And  God  is  just 
when  he  says  to  such — -^Depart  from  me,  /  never 
Icnew  you.'' 


XX. 

THE   DOUBLE   CALL. 

"And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that 
heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." — Rev.  xxii.  17. 

This  closing  passage  of  Scripture  is  a  splendid 
summing  up  of  every  thing  that  is  inviting  in  the 
Gospel. 

When  Christ  had  unfolded  to  the  exiled  apostle 
a  symbolical  sketch  of  human  history  in  this  Apoc- 
alypse, he  closes  with  that  which  is  the  one  grand 
end  of  all  Scripture,  a  iLniversal  call  and  offer  of 
reconciliation  and  eternal  life.  So,  that  it  is,  as 
if,  on  the  back  of  the  prophetic  roll  in  which  all 
human  events  are  outlined,  there  is  stamped  for 
every  beholder  this  Gospel  message — Come.  As  if, 
in  view  of  all  the  historic  future,  men's  one  great 
leading  interest  must  always  be,  to  come  hither 
to  Christ — no  matter  wdiat  events  are  happening, 
or  may  happen.  As  if  all  elements  and  agencies 
wdiich  enter  into  the  working  fabric  of  human  af- 
fairs, could  give  only  one  and  the  same  invitation 
— Come.  And  as  though  all  providential  agents, 
all  angels,  cherubim  and  seraphim,  were  taking 
up  the  call,  and  sounding  out,  over  and  over,  in 


350  THE    DOUBLE    CALL. 

every  form,  with  every  variety  of  anthem  and  ap- 
peal, the  message — Come!  come!  come! 

In  the  immediate  context,  the  Lord  Jesus  has 
twice  announced  himself  as  speedity  coming  to  the 
world  for  the  scenes  of  the  final  consummation. 
He  says,  "Behold  I  come  quickly;"  and  then  again, 
he  repeats  it,  "Behold  I  come  quickly  and  my  re- 
ward is  with  me,  to  give  to  every  man  according 
as  his  work  shall  be."  And  now  it  would  seem, 
that  the  former  part  of  our  text  is  a  call  to  Christ  to 
come  to  men^  and  the  latter  part,  a  summons  to  sin- 
ners to  come  to  Christ.  As  if  after  the  prophetic 
unfoldings  were  all  given,  in  vision  here,  it  re- 
mained only  to  put  forth  in  one  glowing  and  glori- 
ous sentence,  what  may  be  regarded  as  a  concen- 
tration of  the  whole  Scripture,  calling  upon  Christ 
to  come  to  men,  our  world — and  calling  upon  men, 
the  world,  to  come  to  Christ,  as  is  predicted  and 
portrayed  here. 

In  the  previous  context,  Jesus  declares  himself 
as  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega  of  all  history;  and, 
accordingly,  as  being  at  once  the  Author  and  Fin- 
isher of  this  temporal  estate.  He  repeatedly  an- 
nounces himself  as  coming  quickly.  "  Behold  I 
come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me."  And 
here,  immediately,  and  as  a  response  to  such  an- 
nouncement, the  Spirit  is  represented  as  calling  out 
— "(7o?7ie."  And  the  Church,  the  Bride  of  Christ, 
echoes  the  call  to  come.  And  then,  every  hearer  of 
so  glad  a  declaration  and  response  is  bidden  to 
join  the  acclamation,  and  to  bid  Jesus  come  and 
welcome  to  this  waiting  earth. 


THE    DOUBLE    CALL.  351 

And  then,  as  if  this,  his  second  advent,  must  be 
that  Avhich  sliall  make  it  intinitely  desirable  and 
every  way  enconraging  for  sinners  to  come  to 
Christ,  that  so  his  coming  to  judgment,  and  com- 
ing for  the  salvation  of  his  people  may  be  the 
present  urgent  motive  with  all  men,  the  call  goes 
out  to  the  thirsty  soul,  whoever  he  be,  to  come^ 
and  whoever  will,  is  entreated  to  take  the  water 
of  life  freely. 

And  firsts  the  Spirit  in  lorophecy  calls  on  Christ 
to  come. 

As  to  the  nature  of  this  coming,  we  shall  only 
say  that  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  whole  spirit 
and  scope  of  prophecy.  It  is  that  coming  in 
power  and  great  glory  for  which  the  Church  looks 
to  build  up  his  kingdom  in  all  the  earth,  and  to  es- 
tablish his  millennial  reign.  It  is  that  coming  by 
his  Spirit  in  mighty  outpourings  npon  all  flesh 
such  as  Avas  only  partially  fulfilled  at  Pentecost. 

We  need  not  here  discuss  the  question  of  a  per- 
sonal premillennial  advent — whether  we  may  look 
for  Christ  to  appear  visibly  in  person  before  the 
millennium,  to  achieve  what  the  Church  and  the 
instituted  means  of  grace  can  not  do,  to  consume 
the  wicked  upon  the  earth  by  the  literal  breath  of 
his  mouth  and  destroy  them  by  the  brightness  of 
his  coming.  All  along  the  ages  the  prophetic  an- 
nouncement was  of  the  Comer.  Always,  it  was  in 
drapery  suited  to  the  time,  that  this  glorious  ad- 
vent was  depicted. 

There  were  four  great  loredictions  of  Christ  in 
the  patriarchal  age — one  for  each  of  the  four  great 


352  THE    DOUBLE    CALL. 

epochs  of  the  Churcli's  history,  before  the  settle- 
ment in  Canaan.  There  was  a  prediction  of  Christ 
at  the  Fall,  and  another  at  the  Flood,  and  another 
at  the  Covenant  with  Abraham,  and  another  at  the 
Exile  from  Egypt.  And  in  each  of  these,  the 
prophetic  vision  reaches  beyond  tlie  first  advent, 
and  takes  in  also  the  second. 

When  the  serpent  had  just  tempted  the  first 
pair,  the  Comer  was  announced  as  the  Destroyer 
of  the  serpent.  "And  for  this  purpose,  the  Son 
of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  mig4it  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil."  But  when  he  came  and 
spoiled  principalities  and  powers  on  the  cross,  the 
bruising  of  the  serpent's  head  was  not  fully  accom- 
plished so  much  as  the  bruising  of  the  Saviour's 
heel.  The  Spirit  therefore,  in  that  first  promise 
from  the  earth's  earliest  history,  calls  out  to  Jesus 
to  come  in  his  second,  triumphal  advent,  to  put 
all  enemies  under  his  feet. 

And  even  in  the  antediluvian  times,  Enoch  who 
walked  with  God  as  a  child  walks  hand-in-hand 
with  the  parent,  overreached  all  human  history, 
and  announced  the  second  advent  of  Jesus  with- 
out even  speaking  of  the  first  advent.  "Behold 
the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints 
to  execute  judgment  upon  all." 

And  so,  at  the  era  of  the  Flood,  the  Spirit  cries 
out  in  the  promise  to  Noah,  and  calls  for  that  pre- 
dicted enlargement  of  Japhet,  and  for  his  dwelling 
in  the  tents  of  Shem.  This  can  ensue  only  upon 
Christ's  coming,  in  the  ingathering  of  the  world's 
dominant  races  to  a  pure  Christianity. 


THE    DOUBLE    CALL.  353 

And  SO  the  Spirit  cries  out,  in  the  covenant 
promise  given  to  Abraham — calling  on  Jesus  as 
the  seed  of  blessing  to  come. 

]\Iore  and  more  the  prediction  labors  for  accom- 
plishment. In  this  promised  seed,  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  are  now  Avaiting  to  be  blessed.  The 
benighted  and  down-trodden,  the  infidel  and  idola- 
ter, the  civilized  and  barbarous — are  they  not  all 
in  an  attitude  of  longing  expectancy,  crying  for 
deliverance,  and  there  is  no  deliverer  for  them  but 
Jesus;  sighing  for  light,  and  he  it  is,  who  coming 
into  the  Avorld,  lighteth  every  man.  And  so,  also, 
at  the  time  of  bondage  in  Egypt,  the  prediction 
had  a  voice  which  is  still  crying  for  accomplish- 
ment. For  the  Shiloh  has  come.  But  the  gather- 
ing of  the  nations  to  him,  in  a  hearty  and  univer- 
sal obedience,  waits  its  glorious  fulfilment.  It  is 
advancing.  The  march  of  the  world's  millions  is 
plainly  onward  toward  this  goal  of  human  blessing. 

But  observe,  in  the  second  place,  the  Bride  also,  is 
here  represented  as  joining  in  this  call  to  Christ  to 
come.  This  is  the  Church,  the  Spouse  of  Christ. 
Already  in  the  midst  of  the  ancient  economy  this 
is  the  very  attitude  in  which  the  Church  is  de- 
picted, in  that  wonderful  Song  of  Solomon.  AYe 
hear  her  voice  as  that  of  a  desolate,  lone  woman, 
searching  about  the  city  for  her  absent  partner 
• — inquiring  of  the  watchman,  in  most  touching- 
strains,  w^here  he  may  be  found.  To  her  his  ab- 
sence is  represented  under  the  images  of  scorching 
suns,  freezing  winter,  pelting  rain,  pitchy  night, 
dreary  desert — and  she  can  not  sleep  nor  take  any 


354  THE    DOUBLE    CALL. 

comfort  till  she  find  her  beloved,  till  she  hear  his 
voice  at  the  lattice,  till  his  fingers  drop  myrrh  on 
the  handles  of  the  lock.  All  language  is  exhausted 
to  express  that  connubial  love  which  makes  her  go 
about  through  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city, 
crjang  for  his  coming.  Nay,  through  the  fields, 
and  over  the  mountains,  she  searches  for  him, 
and  her  cry  is  still  the  same  earnest,  impassioned, 
beseeching — come  !  come  !  "  Come  Avith  me  from 
Lebanon,  m^^  Spouse,  with  me  from  Lebanon.  Look 
from  the  top  of  Amana,  from  the  top  of  Shenir  and 
Hermon;  from  the  lions'  dens,  from  the  mountains 
of  the  leopards."  This  is  the  restless  plaint  of  the 
true  Church,  in  all  ages,  crying  and  entreating 
until  the  Bridegroom  shall  come. 

And  the  heart  of  genuine  faith  and  hope  and 
love  has  always  found  fitting  expression  in  these 
matchless  passages  of  that  Song  of  Songs,  which  is 
Solomon's.  It  is  an  index  of  returning  conscious- 
ness in  the  Church  of  our  day,  when  she  finds 
these  stanzas  of  the  Canticles  such  as  suit  her 
livel}^  desire,  when  she  goes  through  our  cities, 
in  the  person  of  her  members,  crying  aloud,  and 
weeping  for  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom. 

And  the  Church  in  all  the  Avorld  is  earnestly, 
anxiously  looking  oat  for  the  Master's  coming. 
She  is  so  interpreting  all  his  methods  of  provi- 
dence and  all  the  stupendous  steps  in  history,  all 
the  upturnings  and  overturnings  among  the  na- 
tions; and  nothing  is  of  so  great  moment  to  this 
spouse  of  Christ,  as  that  he  may  come  in  all  these 
commotions,  and  that  on  this  accursed  earth,  where 


THE    DOUBLE    CALL.  355 

he  was  derided  and  condemned  and  crncified  by 
sinners,  he  may  be  exalted  and  entlironed  in  power 
and  great  glory,  holding  the  kingdoms  as  all  his 
own. 

And  noiv,  seeing  that  this  is  the  outcry  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  outcry  of  the  Church,  calling  upon 
Christ  to  come,  in  keeping  Avith  this  proclamation, 
what  is  needed  is,  that  every  one  by  whom  the 
promise  or  the  response  is  heard,  shall  take  wp  the 
cry,  and  re-echo  it  all  around.  ^^Let  him  that  hear- 
eth  say,  Come  I " 

Every  hearer  of  the  Gospel  should  become  a  pro- 
claimer  of  it  in  his  sphere,  to  his  circle.  It  is  in 
this  way  that  the  divine  plan  contemplates  its  uni- 
versal promulgation.  If  the  iron  is  to  attract,  it 
must  first  be  magnetized.  God  has  pleased  to 
make  men  ministers  to  their  fellow -men.  And 
there  is  no  method  so  natural,  nor  is  there  any 
so  efficient. 

It  is  not  supposable  that  angelic  ministries, 
though  so  much  more  exalted,  w^ould  subserve  so 
direct  and  valuable  an  object  as  man's  own  min- 
istries to  his  fellow-man.  Hence  the  Godhead  re- 
vealed itself  in  the  God-man — not  in  the  God-an- 
gel, nor  God-seraph,  but  in  the  God-man. 

And  he  who  is  so  blessed  above  others,  as  to  be 
a  hearer  of  this  Gospel  sound,  is  summoned  to  take 
it  up  and  echo  it.  This  is  only  Avhat  he  would  find 
it  in  his  heart  to  do,  if  he  heard  some  other  glad 
tidings,  in  which  all  the  multitudes  are  as  deeply 
concerned  as  in  self.  This  is  only  an  instinct  of 
our  better  nature-^to  tdl  the  good  news  which  is 


356  THE    DOUBLE    CALL. 

SO  fitted  to  gladden  other  hearts,  to  give  utmost 
curreiicj  to  such  a  heaventy  message,  as  Avill  cheer 
the  kiborer  at  his  work,  and  the  prisoner  in  his 
dnngeon,  and  bid  the  weeping  and  desolate  chil- 
dren of  want  rejoice. 

And  then,  again,  if  this  were  done  at  this  mo- 
ment, simply  with  the  aim  of  each  Christian  man, 
bringing  home  the  message  to  another  so  as  each 
to  duplicate  himself  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  then 
how  long,  think  you,  would  it  take  for  the  whole 
world  to  become  converted  ?  If  there  were  only 
half  a  milHon  of  true  Christians  in  the  Avorld,  and 
each  should  be  the  means  of  bringing  one  soul  to 
Christ  in  a  year,  and  these  should  go  on,  each  du- 
plicating himself  in  this  way,  yearly,  every  soul 
on  the  globe  would  be  converted  within  thirteen 
years. 

But  instead  of  half  a  million  of  Christians  on 
the  earth,  there  are  twenty-five  to  thirty  times 
that  number,  who  make  a  credible  profession  of 
Christianity.  Alas!  that  such  mighty  forces  should 
be  so  dormant.  Oh  !  when  tlie  loaldng  time  shall 
come  for  the  cliurch,  and  this  immense  army  shall 
be  led  forth  in  battle  array  by  the  Master,  see  how 
soon  this  globe  of  ours  will  be  won  for  Christ ! 

It  has  been  computed  that  if  the  work  of  the 
world's  conversion  should  now  begin  for  the  first, 
in  the  ministry  of  a  single  man,  and  he  should  win 
one  soul  to  Christ  during  the  first  year,  and  these 
two  should  do  the  like  in  the  second  year,  each 
winning  his  man,  so  that  four  should  be  at  the 
work  the  third  year;  at  this  rate  of  reduplication, 


THE    DOUBLE    CALL.  357 

the  whole  world  of  one  thousand  millions  would 
be  won  to  Christ  before  the  first  laborer  had  come 
to  his  grave  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature.  In 
the  United  States  if  each  Christian  should  bring  in 
five  more  during  the  year,  the  whole  population 
would  be  converted  in  a  short  twelve-month. 

And  such  a  plan  is  precisely  what  we  need  this 
moment  to  have  in  operation — that  each  hearer  bf 
the  Gospel  become  a  petitioner  for  Christ's  coming, 
and  a  laborer  for  it,  sounding  the  invitation  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  Bride  to  all  within  the  reach  of  his 
voice.  Then  it  would  be  as  signal  words  of  com- 
mand are  passed  along  the  ranks  of  an  army — by 
each  man  repeating  the  order  to  those  beyond;  or, 
as  a  word  of  good  cheer  is  passed  around  a  social 
circle,  like  the  arrival  of  a  friend  at  the  door;  or, 
as  the  news  of  peace,  brought  to  the  wharf  of  a 
city  from  a  remote  land,  is  echoed  from  mouth  to 
mouth  along  the  streets,  till  it  reach  the  utmost 
border  of  the  population.  So  it  would  be  with  this 
glad  message  of  the  Gospel.  What  the  Church 
needs  just  now  is  individual  effort — every  one  with- 
in her  pale,  every  one  within  the  sound  of  her 
message,  becoming  active  in  this  glorious  cause; 
every  hearer  becoming  an  evangelizer;  all  her  en- 
ergies thus  brought  out,  all  her  agencies  set  at 
work,  all  her  lively  sympathies  enlisted,  as  in  any 
other  grand  scheme  for  impressing  and  influenc- 
ing men;  mind  operating  upon  mind,  the  voice 
of  every  hearer  pleading  with  Christ  to  come,  and 
pleading  with  his  fellow-men  to  come  to  Christ:  so 
that  the  individual  efibrt  will  direct  itself  to  indi- 


358  THE    DOUBLE    CALL. 

vidual  conversion,  each  one  laboring  with  some 
other  to  whom  he  recites  the  message,  and  plead- 
ing with  him  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 

And  now,  just  because  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand,  and  just  because  Christ  has  announced 
himself  as  coming  quickly,  and  just  because  the 
Spirit  and  the  Bride,  in  response  to  this  announce- 
ment, call  on  him  most  earnestly  to  come — there- 
fore, the  words  of  invitation  to  men  may  be  ad- 
dressed with  more  emphasis  and  urgency,  to  come 
to  him  who  already  has  come  to  us  as  Redeem- 
er, and  is  soon  coming  again  as  Conqueror  and 
Judge.  In  what  terms  shall  the  closing  invita- 
tion of  the  Gospel  be  couched  ?  "  Let  him  that 
is  athirst,  come !  " 

Thirst — thirst — is  the  very  expression  of  raging 
desire.  It  reaches  to  the  soul's  depths,  and  all 
agony  of  longing  was  expressed  in  this  one  bitter 
w^ord,  when  Jesus  on  the  cross  said,  "/  thirst''  It 
is  only  a  hint  on  earth  of  what  inexpressible  de- 
sire rages  in  the  bosom  of  a  soul  Avhen  it  is  lost, 
when  it  is  in  this  flame  of  torment  and  has  no 
drop  of  water  to  quench  it.  So  DIa^cs  in  hell  said, 
"/  thirst.''  It  is  because  all  men  thirst  with  unsat- 
isfied cravings  and  need  to  find  the  fountain  of  life 
and  blessedness,  that  this  is  the  form  here  of  the 
universal  offer.  As  much  as  to  say — every  thirst- 
ing soul  come  hither — Avhatever  your  unappeased 
longings,  whatever  your  feverish,  burning  appetite, 
whateA^'er  your  unquenched  desires — come  hitlier ! 

Is  this  mistaken  by  some  as  a  limitation  of  the 
Gospel  call  to  such  as  can  prove  that  they  have 


THE    DOUBLE    CALL.  359 

the  described  thirst?  So  it  is  that  Satan  and  an 
evil  conscience  hasten  to  pervert  the  most  genial, 
cordial  words  of  Jesus;  so  as  to  rob  the  Gospel 
of  all  its  grace  and  bar  up  the  very  open  way 
to  heaven.  So  many  a  weak  and  trembling  con- 
science understands  the  Gospel  call  as  limited  to 
those  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  as  the  Scrip- 
ture describes;  and  at  once  they  are  laboring  to 
find  some  evidence  that  they  labor,  to  make  proof 
of  this  quality  in  themselves  as  something  meritori- 
ous. Or  else  they  are  counting  themselves  as  ex- 
cluded, because  they  fall  short  of  this  description. 

Just  as  if  any  one  should  stand  amidst  a  throng 
of  famished  paupers,  and  should  say,  "  Let  him 
that  is  hungry  come  to  me  for  food."  Would  any 
cue  think  that  he  must  first  prove  himself  hungry, 
before  he  could  be  entitled  to  apply  under  the  call? 
Or  rather  would  it  be  understood  by  all  that  the 
mention  of  such  a  class  was  only  to  illustrate  the 
grace,  only  to  show  that  the  provision  was  ample 
for  all  the  need;  and  that  here  the  hungry  could 
find  food,  the  thirsty  could  find  drink,  the  weary 
and  heavy  laden  could  find  rest.  The  call  is  in 
terms  of  most  unrestricted  invitation — not  limited 
by  the  kind  of  thirst,  or  the  measure  of  thirst,  or 
the  character  of  the  thirsting  ones ;  much  less  lim- 
ited by  any  secret  decree  of  God,  but  "  Ho  every 
one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters !  "  "  Let 
Mm  that  is  athirst,  come/"  For  here  the  fountain 
is  opened,  here  the  well-springs  gush  up  and  brim 
over,  and  flow  deep  and  full  at  your  very  feet. 

But  I  have  known  a  difficulty  to  be  raised  by 


360  THE    DOUBLE    CALL. 

tender  consciences  about  the  matter  of  coming. 
"Oh,"  says  one,  "If  I  could  only  come  in  the 
sense  of  this  call,  or  if  I  could  come  aright,  or  if 
I  could  know  that  I  had  really  come  at  all  to  the 
right  quarter,"  And  so,  some  have  debated  and 
doubted  about  the  coming^  as  if  here  was  some 
mysterious  difficulty,  some  secret  impossible  sense 
of  the  requirement  upon  which  all  the  emphasis 
is  placed;  making  the  imitation  a  practical  nul- 
lity, making  this  act  of  coming  as  much  a  legal 
service  as  the  offering  of  rams  and  bullocks  on 
the  JcAvish  altar!  It  would  seem  as  if  to  meet 
this  very  difficulty  of  some,  that  this  last  closing 
form  of  the  Gospel  invitation  has  in  it  not  even 
such  a  word,  about  which  there  could  possibly  be 
any  doubt,  or  which  could  occasion  any  delay. 

Let  it  be  known,  then,  that  it  is  nothing  merito- 
rious in  the  manner  of  coming.  No  secret  grace 
in  tlie  gait  or  attitude — whether  it  be  running, 
walking,  creeping — whether  it  be  coming  with 
many  prayers  and  tears  or  with  few.  It  is  coming 
to  Christ  that  is  requisite.  Not  how  you  come, 
but  to  whom  you  come.     This  is  the  all  in  all. 

There  have  been  all  styles  of  coming.  The 
young  man  who  came  running  and  kneeling,  and 
made  the  best  show  of  devotion,  went  away  disap- 
pointed because  he  found  nothing  that  he  wanted. 
The  blind  beggar  by  the  way-side,  that  only  cried 
out  from  where  he  was,  as  the  eager  throng  rushed 
by  in  the  track  of  Jesus,  he  was  blessed  where  he 
sat,  and  bidden  to  get  up,  and  receive  all  bene- 
diction from  Christ  himself     So  it  is  sometimes 


THE    DOUBLE    CALL.  361 

spoken  of  as  looking,  or  seeking,  or  following,  or 
trusting. 

Nay,  my  hearers,  there  is  here  nothing  obscure, 
nothing  mystical  or  perplexing,  to  any  honest  in- 
quirer. It  is  just  the  freest  possible  invitation — 
"Whosoever  loill^  let  him  take  the  water  of  life, 
i'reely."  Not,  let  him  come  and  take,  but  let  him 
take,  where  he  is;  as  if  the  cup  of  life's  waters 
were  pressed  to  his  very  lips,  and  it  is  only  to  take 
it,  if  he  ivill. 

There  is  nothing  to  stand  between  the  willing 
and  the  receiving.  It  is  just  the  single,  only  ques- 
tion, whether  a  man  will  have  all  the  hopes  of  the 
Gospel,  all  the  salvation  of  Jesus,  all  the  heritage 
of  the  blessed,  as  an  unmixed  gratuity — whether 
he  will  take  it  as  a  gift. 

Let  no  perversions  crowd  in  here.  This  is  the 
last  effort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  clear  the  Gospel 
offer  of  all  obscurity,  to  vindicate  it  from  all  objec- 
tion as  inapplicable  or  inaccessible,  to  rescue  it 
from  all  wicked  perversion,  as  unsuited  to  any 
case,  or  as  covering  some  undefined  impossibil- 
ities, under  the  guise  of  a  fair  and  free  and  full 
gratuity.  Let  it  be  known  everywhere,  that  this 
last  sublime  utterance  of  the  universal  call  and 
ofier,  is  in  that  form  which  need  not  be  misunder- 
stood, for  language  could  not  make  it  simpler, 
plainer,  clearer;  and  there  is  no  mystery,  no  per- 
plexity, about  it.  If  you  ivant  it,  take  it  Whoever 
will  have  it  it  is  his. 


630  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 
November,  1877. 


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Date  Due 


•^X^NM^JSSSSi^SSt^ 


